Conformations of bottlebrush polymers in dilute solution

Bottlebrush polymers are a class of highly branched polymers consisting of a
central backbone chain with a large number of side chains emanating from it.
As the overall structure and stiffness deviates considerably from that of a
linear chain, it is important to understand the role of various architectural
parameters that determine the conformations of a bottlebrush molecule. We
present results that highlight the effects of backbone length, side chain
length, and grafting density on the equilibrium static and near-equilibrium
dynamic properties of bottlebrushes in dilute solution. Our results are based on
a combination of viscometric measurements and computer simulations. The
experiments were performed on a series of low polydispersity bottlebrushes
comprising of poly(norbornene) backbone and poly(lactic acid) side chains. The
simulations were performed on a coarse-grained bead-spring model using a
combination of Brownian Dynamics and Monte Carlo. The simulation predictions
show quantitative agreement with experimental results, enabling us to probe
further structural details not easily amenable to experiments.