Telechelic polymers are effective rheological modifiers that bridge between associative constituents to form elastic networks. The performance of linear telechelic chains, however, is controlled by entropic forces and thus suffers from an upper limit on bridge formation. This work overcomes this limitation by utilizing telechelic triblock copolymers containing bottlebrush midblocks. By comparing the rheological properties of emulsions linked by telechelic bottlebrush polymers to those containing linear chains, we determined that telechelic polymers with bottlebrush midblocks form elastic networks more efficiently. These enhanced rheological properties arise from the high stiffness of the bottlebrush midblocks, which offsets the entropic stretching penalty for bridge formation, enabling them to more readily form networks. This molecular-level control over polymer conformation in complex fluids opens avenues for designing highly elastic networks with minimal polymeric additives.

中文翻译：

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Bottlebrush 中间模块促进 Telechelic 聚合物的胶体桥接


Telechelic 聚合物是有效的流变改性剂，可在缔合成分之间架起桥梁以形成弹性网络。然而，线性远螯链的性能受熵力控制，因此受到桥形成上限的影响。这项工作通过利用含有 bottlebrush 中间嵌段的 Telechelic 三嵌段共聚物克服了这一限制。通过比较由 telechelic bottlebrush 聚合物连接的乳液与含有线性链的乳液的流变特性，我们确定具有 bottlebrush 中间嵌段的 telechelic 聚合物更有效地形成弹性网络。这些增强的流变特性源于 bottlebrush 中间块的高刚度，这抵消了桥梁形成的熵拉伸损失，使它们更容易形成网络。这种对复杂流体中聚合物构象的分子水平控制为使用最少的聚合物添加剂设计高弹性网络开辟了途径。