Bottlebrush polymer thin films may be attractive for the preparation of antifouling and/or stimuli-responsive surface coatings due to the high grafting density and conformational flexibility of polymeric side-chains, but bottlebrush polymer thin films have not been previously reported and their surface properties are unknown. Herein, we report a study of the surface properties of mixed bottlebrush polymer (MBBPs) films. MBBPs with hydrophobic polystyrene (PS) and hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) side-chains are synthesized using a �grafting-through� ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) approach. Stimuli-responsive MBBPs films morphology and surface properties can be changed upon exposure of the MBBPs films to selective solvents. Consistent with water-contact angle measurements, XPS indicates enrichment of PEG or PS chains at the film surface after exposure of the MBBPs film to methanol or cyclohexane solvent vapors, respectively. This work demonstrates that bottlebrush polymers enable the preparation of stimuli-responsive, �brush-like� polymeric coatings using simple solution processing methods.

Surface properties of bottlebrush polymer thin films

245th National Meeting (2013)

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