Synthesis of Bottlebrush Block Copolymers from Polystyrene and Poly(methyl methacrylate) Derivatives End-capped with Norbornene and Their Self-Assembly

Abstract

Bottlebrush copolymers (BBCPs) are comblike macromolecules containing high density of polymeric side chains. Living anionic polymerization (LAP) is best polymerization technique for preparing well-defined macromonomers with predictable molecular weight(MW) and narrow molecular weight distributions (MWDs). The bottlebrush copolymers containing polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate) derivatives were prepared by combination of LAP and ROMP with grafting-through strategy. ω-End-nobornyl polystyrene and poly (methyl methacrylate) derivatives macromonomers were synthesized by LAP and brush homopolymers of resulted all macromonomers were synthesized by ROMP. Bottlebrush copolymers were obtained symmetrically by ROMP with ultrahigh MWs (Mw ~ 3558 kDa) and narrow MWDs (Ɖ ~ 1.17) in high conversions. The self-assembly of resulting BBCPs through solvent evaporation and post annealing revealed periodic lamellar morphologies and their structural colors.