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Microphase coexistence in polymeric brushes
Author(s) -
Birshtein Tatiana M.,
Amoskov Victor M.,
Klushin Leonid I.,
Mercurieva Anna A.,
Polotsky Alexey A.,
Iakovlev Petr A.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.200390013
Subject(s) - brush , materials science , solvent , polymer , amphiphile , phase (matter) , polymer brush , polymer chemistry , chemical physics , polyelectrolyte , chemical engineering , copolymer , chemistry , composite material , organic chemistry , polymerization , engineering
A collapse of polymeric brushes in a solvent can be induced by a change in external conditions, for example, solvent quality or its temperature. The systems with following specific interactions are considered in this paper, namely, polyelectrolyte brushes, amphiphilic brushes in a mixture of incompatible solvents, and brushes with possibility of liquid‐crystalline ordering of polymer segments. For all the systems it is shown that the brush collapse can be observed under certain conditions, and it occurs through a microphase segregation. There are two microphases of different densities that coexist in the brush. The effect is caused by general properties of the swollen phase of polymeric brush and hence appears at all types of the interactions that can induce a phase transition of the brush into collapsed state.