POS4-0858
A Grafting-Through Strategy Towards Polymer Nanodiscs
Topic
S4. Colloids, Interfaces, and Molecular Assemblies for Functional Soft Materials
When and Where
Sep 29, 2026
08:30 - 09:30
Room 301 (Grand Ballroom)
Session Chairs
Hae Jung SON
Boseok KANG
Presenter(s)
Elizabeth Lai (The University of Sydney)
Co-Author(s)
Abstract
Polymer topology can be a determining factor in polymer self-assembly. A bottlebrush architecture where polymer sidechains are densely grafted onto a polymer backbone can introduce new opportunities for topology-directed self-assembly. We have recently shown that amphiphilic bottlebrush copolymers (BBCs) can be used to access amorphous 2D nanostructures. Here, we report a photoinduced electron/energy transfer reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (PET-RAFT) grafting-through strategy to access high-density bottlebrush segments. Utilising this approach, hydrophobic methacrylate-functionalised poly(ethoxy-ethyl glycidyl ether) (PEE) macromonomers were directly grown from a PEG macro-CTA. The resulting BBC amphiphiles can then directly self-assemble in water to produce amorphous polymer nanodiscs. Tuning of polymer hydrophobic content via modification of PEE bottlebrush block lengths yielded changes to nanodisc size and thickness.
