Materials Design of Highly Branched Bottlebrush Polymers at the Intersection of Modeling, Synthesis, Processing, and Characterization

Highly branched "bottlebrush" polymers are a class of macromolecules characterized by side chains that are densely grafted from a backbone that is typically linear. Their unique and often-desirable properties stem from steric repulsion between side chains, which stiffens the molecular contour and increases interchain spacing. There has been a renaissance in both our fundamental understanding, practical synthesis, and application of these materials, due to synergistic advances in all branches of polymer science. In this perspective, we outline how a wide variety of new functional bottlebrush materials have emerged from the convergence of insights from the entire materials design process; the integration of synthesis, characterization, processing, and modeling has demonstrated the promise of these branched macromolecules as a versatile platform for molecular engineering. We discuss how this platform may be further developed to exhibit novel material properties in and out of equilibrium and put into practice due to the next generation of synthetic, analytical, processing, and computational tools in materials chemistry.