Recently we have studied the degradation of bottlebrush and dendronized polymers in the solution and solid states with ultrasonication (US) and ball-mill grinding (BMG), respectively. By systematically varying backbone length and arm architecture, com...
Recently we have studied the degradation of bottlebrush and dendronized polymers in the solution and solid states with ultrasonication (US) and ball-mill grinding (BMG), respectively. By systematically varying backbone length and arm architecture, composition, and size, we have identified important parameters which influence chain scission rates and the location of scission events (such as in the backbone or arms) within the polymer. To exploit this reactivity of these polymer types, we prepared graft multi-mechanophore polymers with mechanophores located at the backbone-armjunction of every repeat unit, enabling very high degrees of mechanophore activation. Overall, these results have important implications to the development of new mechanoresponsive materials.