Carlos R. Lopez-Barron

Dicyclopentadiene monomer was incorporated into statistical copolymerizations with cyclopentene to determine its influence on the resulting copolymers. These dicyclopentadiene nanodomains acted as crosslinks providing strength to the uncured network.

Polymer softness (i.e., low elastic modulus) is a known requirement for good tack in adhesives. We assess the tack performance of α-olefin molecular bottlebrushes having an elastic modulus from 4 to 30 times lower than a linear polyolefin (polypropylene). Monotonic increases of the tack parameters are observed as the bottlebrush side chain length (N_sc) increases and the modulus decreases. All-atom molecular dynamics simulations reveal that the monomeric bonding energy increases with N_sc due to a strong van der Waals interaction between the side chains and the aluminum sheet, which overcomes the energy penalty imposed by side-chain bending.