Architecture of Telechelic Star Polymer Networks

The study of star polymers is not only motivated by their industrial applications but also by the theoretical interest they present, as they constitute a bridge between colloids and polymeric chains. Structurally star polymers are composed of a number of polymeric chains (called arms) which all have one end attached to a single central point. If in addition the outer ends of each arm are functionalized so that they can attach to each other, the star is called telechelic. Provided that their density is high enough, telechelic star polymers self-assemble to form networks where the connecting points are aggregates of functionalized ends. Here, we investigate the formation of such networks using Molecular Dynamics simulation. We find that, depending on the strength of the interaction between the attractive ends, we can distinguish three different types of networks architecture exhibiting very distinctive properties.