Dissipative Particle Dynamics simulation of bottlebrush copolymers: effect of brush configuration and crosslinking of backbone chain
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내용
Recently, bottlebrush copolymers gain significant attention due to their self-assembly behavior arising from unique architecture. We study self-assembly behavior of ABC-type bottlebrush copolymers using DPD simulation. Solvophobic A and solvophilic B brushes are grafted on backbone chain C in different topology: C-g-(A-r-B) type (brushes A and B are randomly grafted on backbone chain) and C-g-(A-b-B) type (brushes A are grafted on the first half and brushes B are grafted on the second half). DPD simulations suggest that C-g-(A-b-B) polymers are self-assembled into more uniform morphology compared to C-g-(A-r-B) polymers. Moreover, backbone chain crosslinking effect is introduced by additional bonds between backbone chain beads which prevents rearrangement of backbone chains. Collapsed conformation of two different systems results in different morphologies. This study suggests that grafting topology and crosslinking effect can be significant factor to control self-assembly structure.