Molecular (Bottle) Brushes: From Solution Properties to Nanostructured Materials
A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 February 2023) | Viewed by 6196
Special Issue Editors
Interests: molecular brushes; block copolymers; self-assemble; polyelectrolyte; pH-respons; thermo-responsive; emulsion polymerization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Molecular brushes (aka bottlebrushes) represent a particular class of regularly branched macromolecules in which multiple side chains are attached to a long main chain (backbone) with high grafting density. Although all major synthetic strategies towards molecular brushes (“grafting to”, “grafting from”, “grafting through”) were elaborated a few decades ago, and properties of brush-like macromolecules in melts and solutions have been extensively studied, interest in the polymeric materials that compose the molecular brushes has recently increased quite significantly.
Contemporary synthetic approaches enable perfectly controlled variations in the basic architectural parameters of molecular brushes (degrees of polymerization of the main and side chains, grafting density). As a result, the paradigm of encoding the structural and rheological properties of polymeric materials through the control of the macromolecular architecture of bottlebrush components has emerged. Moreover, the mechanical properties of crosslinked elastomers and swelling gels with bottlebrushes as elementary strands can be adjusted to mimic, for example, the elasticity of living tissues.
Block copolymers comprising two or more chemically different (incompatible) bottlebrush blocks demonstrate self-assembly capability in the melt state or in selective solvent, giving rise to nanostructures, mesophases, or swollen mesogels with structural, mechanical, and optical properties controlled by tuning the set of architectural parameters of constituent bottlebrush blocks.
Despite remarkable recent advances in the experimental and theoretical research of solutions, melts, nanostructured materials, and elastomers constituting molecular brushes, our knowledge in this domain is still far from comprehensive. This is clearly indicated by the dramatic increase in the number of relevant publications in the field.
This Special Issue aims to attract research articles focused on synthetic and experimental studies, as well as theory and computer simulations of the solution and bulk properties of bottlebrush (co)polymers with major emphasis on the enlarged spectrum of molecular architectures (including barbwire brushes, dendronized polymers, etc.), and further progress towards understanding systematic relations between the architecture of the bottlebrushes on one hand, and the structural, rheological, and mechanical properties of their solutions, bulk materials, and elastomers on the other.
Prof. Dr. Oleg V. Borisov
Prof. Dr. Ekaterina B. Zhulina
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- molecular brushes
- comblike polymers
- hierarchically branched macromolecules
- bottlebrush block copolymers
- self-assembly
- mesogels
- tissue-mimicking materials
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
