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Peer-reviewedCC BYACS macro letters

Interfacial Penetration Drives Anomalous Domain Spacing in Strongly Segregated Linear-Bottlebrush Copolymers.

  • Baiqiang Huang1
  • Haobo Wang1
  • Patryk Wąsik2
  • Eliot Gann2
  • Li-Heng Cai1,3,4,5
5 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia22904, United States.
  2. 2National Synchrotron Light Source II, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York11973, United States.
  3. 3Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia22904, United States.
  4. 4Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia22904, United States.
  5. 5Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia22904, United States.
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Abstract

Domain spacing in block copolymers is typically limited by polymer contour length. Here, we report anomalously large domain spacing in strongly segregated linear-bottlebrush diblock copolymers. Using transmission electron microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering, we show that the bridging distance between neighboring linear domains exceeds the bottlebrush backbone contour length. Notably, the excess length matches that previously observed in linear-bottlebrush-linear triblock copolymers, despite the inability of diblocks to form physical networks. This agreement rules out network formation as the origin of the anomaly. We propose that the penetration of linear segments into the bottlebrush domain relieves side chain packing frustration and increases the effective bottlebrush domain size. These findings reveal a previously unrecognized mechanism for generating domain spacing beyond contour-length limits and suggest that molecular architecture can be used to program large length scales in nanostructured soft materials.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{huang2026interfacial,
  title = {{Interfacial Penetration Drives Anomalous Domain Spacing in Strongly Segregated Linear-Bottlebrush Copolymers.}},
  author = {Baiqiang Huang and Haobo Wang and Patryk Wąsik and Eliot Gann and Li-Heng Cai},
  journal = {ACS macro letters},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.1021/acsmacrolett.6c00296},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42915583},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Interfacial Penetration Drives Anomalous Domain Spacing in Strongly Segregated Linear-Bottlebrush Copolymers.
AU  - Baiqiang Huang
AU  - Haobo Wang
AU  - Patryk Wąsik
AU  - Eliot Gann
AU  - Li-Heng Cai
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/01
JO  - ACS macro letters
DO  - 10.1021/acsmacrolett.6c00296
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42915583
AB  - Domain spacing in block copolymers is typically limited by polymer contour length. Here, we report anomalously large domain spacing in strongly segregated linear-bottlebrush diblock copolymers. Using transmission electron microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering, we show that the bridging distance between neighboring linear domains exceeds the bottlebrush backbone contour length. Notably, the excess length matches that previously observed in linear-bottlebrush-linear triblock copolymers, despite the inability of diblocks to form physical networks. This agreement rules out network formation as the origin of the anomaly. We propose that the penetration of linear segments into the bottlebrush domain relieves side chain packing frustration and increases the effective bottlebrush domain size. These findings reveal a previously unrecognized mechanism for generating domain spacing beyond contour-length limits and suggest that molecular architecture can be used to program large length scales in nanostructured soft materials.
SN  - 2161-1653
ER  -