POS4-0589
Multicompartment Colloidal Particles via Self-Assembly of Mixed Graft Bottlebrush Block Copolymers
Topic
S4. Colloids, Interfaces, and Molecular Assemblies for Functional Soft Materials
When and Where
Sep 30, 2026
08:30 - 09:30
Room 301 (Grand Ballroom)
Session Chairs
Heesuk KIM
Jinhye BAE
Presenter(s)
Minjoon Baek (Soongsil university)
Co-Author(s)
Abstract
Hierarchical structures are prevalent in biological systems, where structural organization across multiple length scales leads to functionalities. We introduce multicomponent, hierarchically nanostructured colloids based on the self-assembly of mixed graft bottlebrush copolymers (mGBCPs) confined in evaporative emulsion droplets. The mGBCPs were synthesized via ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP), utilizing polystyrene (PS), poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS), and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) side-chains. Such a mixed graft architecture is described by a mixture of block- and random-sequence bottlebrushes, in which phase separation can occur across two different length scales to form complex morphologies, such as lamellae-in-lamellae and cylinders-in-lamellae. A series of symmetric mGBCPs featuring PS, PLA, and PDMS side-chains grafted onto a polynorbornene (PNB) backbone to form a lamellae-in-lamellae structure were synthesized with varying degrees of polymerization of the PNB backbone (NPNB) ranging from 25 to 200. As the NPNB of the mGBCP increased above 100, a morphological transition from onion-like concentric particles to striped ellipsoids was observed. As the molecular weight increases, the parallel alignment of the backbone chains becomes thermodynamically favorable, leading to the formation of disk-like structures where the PDMS and PLA layers arrange into concentric lamellae within the striped domains. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the particle shape can also transition from onion-like to ellipsoidal morphologies by tuning the volume fraction of PLA within the PS-b-(PDMS-r-PLA) architecture. Further control over block sequences to PLA-b-(PS-r-PDMS) architecture allows successfully control over both the superstructure (block) and substructure (random), achieving complex ternary morphologies. These mGBCP particles demonstrate great promise for diverse applications as multifunctional materials.
