Molecular-dynamics simulations are used to study the structure of bottlebrush polymers with rigid backbones, for various grafting densities, side chain lengths, and varying solvent quality. While we confirm different states of the bottlebrush proposed by Sheiko et al. (Eur. Phys. J. E, 13 (2004) 125) we find that the transition between stretched and collapsed brushes occurs in a rather gradual ...

A semiphenomenological theory that has the advantage of taking into account nonlinear and nonlocal contributions in the free energy for microphase separation of block copolymers is proposed. A kinetic nonlinear equation defining the process of structure formation from a melt is obtained, and its analytical solution at the melt-structure transition temperature is examined. In this region, the st...

The shear-induced microstructure of a shear-induced phase separating (SIPS) wormlike micellar solution is measured by combining small-angle neutron scattering with a shear cell capable of gap-resolved measurement in the 1-2 (velocity-velocity gradient) plane. Quantitative results show evidence for shear-induced microphase separation accompanied by shear banding. The results suggest both concent...

A series of poly(3-hexylthiophene)-b-poly(hexadecyloxylallene) copolymers has been synthesized in one pot via sequential monomer addition by using Ni(dppp)Cl2 as a single catalyst. The copolymerization has been revealed to proceed by a controlled chain extension mechanism and the block copolymer can self-assemble into a well-defined supramolecular structure in solution and exhibit microphase se...