The Structure of Dipolar Polymer Brushes and Their Interaction in the Melt. Impact of Chain Stiffness

By using the numerical lattice Scheutjens–Fleer self-consistent field (SF-SCF) method we have studied the effect of the restricted flexibility of grafted chains on the structure and mutual interaction of two opposing planar conventional and A-type dipolar brushes. Brushes are immersed in the solvent consisting of chains similar to the grafted ones. The increase of the chain rigidity enhances the segregation of grafted chains in a A-type dipolar brush into two populations: backfolded chains with terminal monomers near the grafting surface and chains with the ends at the brush periphery. The fraction of backfolded chains grows by an increase of the Kuhn segment length. It is shown that two opposite A-type dipolar brushes from semi-rigid chains are attracted to each other at short distances. The attraction becomes more pronounced and begins at larger distances for more rigid chains with the same brush characteristics: polymerization degree, grafting density, and dipole moments of monomer units. This attraction is connected with the dipole-dipole interactions between chains of oncoming brushes with oppositely directed dipoles penetrating deeply into each other upon contact. This effect of the chain rigidity is opposite to that for conventional brushes without dipoles in the chains. For such brushes, an increase in the chain rigidity leads to the enhanced repulsion between them.