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In this paper, we studied for the first time the impact of the molecular weight, M n , and the topology on the molecular dynamics of a series of grafted poly(poly(dimethylsiloxane methacrylate)) (polyPDMSMA). The behavior of grafted (molecular brushes) polyPDMSMA and their three-armed counterparts of tailor-made properties prepared by Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ATRP) was monitored by means of broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and comprehensive rheology analysis. Surprisingly, the dielectric loss spectra of all studied polyPDMSMA exhibit the presence of two dielectric relaxation processes above their glass transition temperature, T g. A comparison of dielectric, calorimetric and mechanical data indicated that the faster and slower relaxation processes identified in loss spectra can be related to the segmental and chain dynamics, respectively. Interestingly, we observed that the "local" segmental dynamics of studied polyPDMSMA, involving the mobility of few repeatable units creating a segment, is almost unaffected by neither the length of polymer chain, number of grafts nor its topology. This is also reflected in a weak molecular weight-dependences of T g of studied polyPDMSMA independently to their topology. On the other hand, the time-scale separation between segmental and the chain modes as well as the amplitude of the latter process increase with growing M n of all examined polyPDMSMA. Additionally, it should be mentioned that the mechanical data collected for samples characterized by high molecular weight (of M n > 280 kg/mol) reveal the emergence of additional process (most likely related to the grafts and/or the star arm relaxation) at the intermediate regime, independently to their topology. Interestingly, this mode was observed to be much slower for the star-shaped macromolecules when compared to the grafted polymers, despite their lower M n. This implies that the observed differences are not a result of different molecular weights, but rather originate from a various molecular mechanism due to the different topology of the studied samples. In this context, one can assume that in the case of high-molecular-weight macromolecules, the backbone architecture has a significant influence on the behavior of polymers, including their molecular dynamics. [Display omitted] • Increase of the glass transition of studied polyPDMSMA with their molecular weight. • Loss spectra of polyPDMSMA exhibit multiple dielectric relaxation processes. • Observed dielectric processes were assigned as the chain and segmental modes. • Presence of grafts/arms relaxation (or entanglement segments) in mechanical data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we have investigated dielectric response at ambient and elevated pressure of poly(mercaptopropyl)methylsiloxane (PMMS) based oligomeric brushes, where the thiol moiety was substituted by various butyl acrylate isomers (n -butyl acrylate (nBA), iso -butyl acrylate (isoBA), tert -butyl acrylate (tertBA)). It was found that the glass transition temperature, T g , of PMMS is much lower with respect to the other systems despite its ability to form weak hydrogen (H) bonds. What is more, the length scale of cooperativity was the highest in homopolymer and scaled with the steric hindrance of the graft. We also demonstrated that in the examined grafted copolymers, there is one broad relaxation process in dielectric spectra which is wider than that recorded in mechanical response. That probably means that similarly to PMMS, there are two relaxation processes above T g in grafted copolymers. However, due to similar timescale, they cannot be separated. Further, high-pressure experiments revealed that pressure coefficient of the glass transition temperature, d T g / d p , as well as the activation volume, Δ V , calculated for the segmental process surprisingly does not scale with either the size of monomer nor steric hindrance. This unexpected result must be related to the specific structure adopted by the studied grafted oligomers. Presented herein data expand our understanding on the impact of topology on the dynamics of polymers at ambient and high pressure. [Display omitted] • The glass transition temperature is strongly affected by a graft structure. • All grafted materials revealed the broad segmental relaxation process. • The shape of the α -process remains constant with pressure for all materials. • The pressure coefficient of the glass transition changes with graft structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work demonstrates the effect of a high dc bias field (up to 160 kV/cm) on the polyaddition reaction of the modeled epoxy resin system. Polymerization of bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (DGEBA) supported by high electric field results in obtaining epoxides with significantly increased molecular weight, which is seven-fold higher than the zero-field reference (M n = 4.7 kg/mol). We also found a markedly reduced dispersity (Ð = 1.52 at 0 kV/cm, Đ = 1.21 at 160 kV/cm). The molecular weight and dispersity of obtained polymers change almost linearly with the reaction time. By following polymerization kinetics in the real-time of the experiment, via dielectric spectroscopy, we observe slowing down the reaction progress at dc fields of E = 160 kV/cm, compared to the zero-field case, E = 0 kV/cm. The polymer materials obtained in the presence/absence of static electric fields exhibit distinctly different glass transition temperatures. Our study highlights a better control over the reaction and product properties attained by using only the magnitude of the applied field as the control variable. Thus, a high electric field could provide an alternative pathway in synthesizing and developing advanced polymer materials using simpler, "green", less-expensive, and technologically demanding approaches. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]