English

Self-assembly in solution of a reversible comb-shaped supramolecular polymer

Soft Condensed Matter 2010-07-28 v2

Abstract

We report a single step synthesis of a polyisobutene with a bis-urea moiety in the middle of the chain. In low polarity solvents, this polymer self-assembles by hydrogen bonding to form a combshaped polymer with a central hydrogen bonded backbone and polyisobutene arms. The comb backbone can be reversibly broken, and consequently, its length can be tuned by changing the solvent, the concentration or the temperature. Moreover, we have proved that the bulkiness of the side-chains have a strong influence on both the self-assembly pattern and the length of the backbone. Finally, the density of arms can be reduced, by simply mixing with a low molar mass bis-urea.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1005.1552,
  title  = {Self-assembly in solution of a reversible comb-shaped supramolecular polymer},
  author = {Sandrine Pensec and Nicolas Nouvela and Audrey Guilleman and Costantino Creton and François Boué and Laurent Bouteiller},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1005.1552},
  year   = {2010}
}