Comb copolymers, block copolymer-based hydrogen-bonded

Block Copolymer-Based Hydrogen-Bonded Comb Copolymers. 137... 

Finally, we will consider briefly the formation of multilayer thin films by layer-by-layer deposition of hydrogen-bonded polymer pairs [51,52]. In this way a multilayer structure is obtained from potentially miscible polymer pairs. The stability of these films very much depends on the presence of hydrogen bonds, and pH may be used as an external trigger to erase the layered structure [53,54] and selectively dissolve one of the components [25-27]. This procedure allows for the preparation of microporous films not unlike the nanoporous films obtained by dissolution of the hydrogen-bonded side groups from self-assembled block copolymer-based comb-shaped supramo-lecules [15,17,18]. 

As for any block copolymer, the self-organized structure formation in comb copolymers is based on the competition between the covalent attraction and the repulsion between the side chains and the backbone. The examples employing ionic attraction and coordination complexation demonstrate that the attractive interaction has to be sufficiently strong. In the case of hydrogen bonding, this is a much more delicate matter and the strength required to self-organize the supramolecular comb copolymers will be determined by a fine balance between attraction and repulsion. 

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