Planar Brush of End-Tethered Molecular Bottle-Brushes. Scaling Mode
Abstract
We present a scaling theory describing structural properties of brushes formed by molecular bottle-brushes tethered by the ends of the main chains to inert planar surface. We consider bottle-brushes where q ≥ lateral side chains (grafts) emanate from each of the branching points regularly distributed along the main chain (backbone). Such macromolecule can be envisioned as an array of polymer stars whose centres are connected by flexible spacers into a necklace. We demonstrate that such starlike mode of branching leads to novel features both in conformations of individual bottle-brushes in solution and in appearance of additional scaling regime for brushes formed by bottle-brushes tethered to the surface.