Novel Hybrid Polymer Brushes with Alternating Dendritic Wedges and Linear Side Chains

Abstract

AbstractSummary: Novel hybrid polymer brushes with alternating dendritic wedge and linear chain as side chains were reported in this paper. Firstly, dendronized polymer initiators of generation one to three, GnMIBr (n = 1, 2, 3), were synthesized through the alternating copolymerization of styryl dendrons and maleimide derivative initiated by AIBN. The linear side chains were then generated through grafting‐from approach using ATRP of tBA initiated with the above‐mentioned macroinitiators. By combining such macromonomers and grafting‐from approach, a new kind of polymer brushes with alternating dendron and linear chain as side chains, GnMI‐g‐PtBA, were thus synthesized and characterized with 1H NMR, SEC, AFM, etc. Morphology studies made by AFM indicate the polymer brushes display a uniform worm‐like structure with a very long contour length. After the hydrolysis of PtBA branches under acidic conditions, amphiphilic dendronized polymer brushes with hydrophilic linear PAA side chains and hydrophobic dendritic side chains of three generations have been prepared.Schematic structure and AFM image of G1MI‐g‐PtBA‐2 dendronized polymer brushes.magnified imageSchematic structure and AFM image of G1MI‐g‐PtBA‐2 dendronized polymer brushes.