Nanostructured Materials From Molecular Brushes Javid Rzayev, University at Buffalo, DMR 0846584

1. Nanostructured Materials From Molecular BrushesJavid Rzayev, University at Buffalo, DMR 0846584 • Molecular brushes, or bottlebrush copolymers, are highly densely grafted macromolecules with a comb-like architecture. By taking advantage of the persistent shape and chemical tunability of these macromolecules, we created two types of nanostructured materials: • Organic nanotubes with unprecedented control over structural parameters and functional composition were prepared from core-shell molecular brushes (Figure 1).1 These virus-like molecular objects can serve as versatile platform for drug delivery applications. • Highly ordered periodic nanomaterials with very large pitch sizes (> 100 nm) were prepared by melt self-assembly of bottlebrush block copolymers (Figure 2).2 This process can produce materials with very large periodicities circumventing the limitation of linear block copolymers. Figure 1. Synthesis of organic nanotubes from core-shell molecular brushes. Figure 2. Melt self-assembly of bottlebrush block copolymers. • References: • K. Huang and J. Rzayev, J. Am. Chem. Soc.2009, 131, 6880. • J. Rzayev, Macromolecules2009, 42, 2135.

2. Nanostructured Materials From Molecular BrushesJavid Rzayev, University at Buffalo, DMR 0846584 Structural Colors in Biology Photonic Crystals From Molecular Brushes • New photonic materials have been developed from bottlebrush block copolymers. • Three undergraduate students (including a female student and an REU student) contributed to this research. • A high school teacher from the Buffalo Public Schools district participated in the research. • Graduate students presented their achievements at the ACS NERM, 2nd Annual Graduate Research Symposium in Buffalo, NY, and the National Graduate Research Symposium at UNC. Justin Bolton presented his work at the 8th National Graduate Polymer Research Conference. Julia Dallas, Dave Machado and Adam Korus participated in the research on molecular brushes.