Solvent-Induced Phase Morphologies of Well-Defined Mixed Homopolymer Brushes on Silica Particles

摘要

Mixed homopolymer brushes are composed of two chemically distinct homopolymers randomly or alternately immobilized by one end via a covalent bond on a solid surface with high grafting densities. These brushes represent a new class of surface-responsive materials and have received tremendous interest in the past years because of their intriguing, rich phase behavior (Scheme 1) and a wide range of potential technological applications. The self-assembly of mixed brushes upon exposure to different solvents is of great interest. Micellar structures with solvophobic chains associating into a dense core and solvophilic chains forming an outer shell in selective solvents have been predicted. Since the solvophilic chains extend into the solvent and their density decays from the core of the solvophobic chains, these surface micelles have a “flower-like” appearance.