Syntheses of microcrystalline cellulose-graft bottlebrush copolymer elastomers with hydrogen bonding interactions to endow applicable mechanical property

Syntheses of microcrystalline cellulose-graft bottlebrush copolymer elastomers with hydrogen bonding interactions to endow applicable mechanical property | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Syntheses of microcrystalline cellulose-graft bottlebrush copolymer elastomers with hydrogen bonding interactions to endow applicable mechanical property Wanyu Wang, Rou Chen, Xuehui Wang, Huanjuan Sun, Zhigang Wang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7302382/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract A series of microcrystalline cellulose- graft bottlebrush copolymer elastomers (microcrystalline cellulose- graft -poly( n -butyl acrylate- co -acrylic acid) (MCC- g -P( n BA- co -AA)) have been successfully synthesized via combining activators regenerated by electron transfer for atom transfer radical polymerization (ARGET ATRP) and hydrolysis reaction. Compared to MCC- g -P( n BA- co - t BA) copolymers with no hydrolysis, MCC- g -P( n BA- co -AA) copolymers possess higher thermal stability and tunable higher glass transition temperatures by adjusting the feed ratio of n BA and t BA monomers. Microcrystalline cellulose serves as physical cross-linking points and P( n BA- co -AA) side chains form the network of hydrogen bonding, and the dense double-network microstructure synergistically obviously enhances the mechanical property of MCC- g -P( n BA- co -AA) copolymers for potential applications. With increasing PAA mass content, the mechanical property of MCC- g -P( n BA- co -AA) copolymers can be conveniently tuned from ductile one to robust one with a wide range of ultimate tensile strength from 1.4 to 10.6 MPa. Atomic force microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering measurements reveal that the graft copolymers are homogeneous. This convenient and robust grafting strategy can be further utilized to build up a physical cross-linking network in cellulose-based thermoplastic elastomer copolymers associated with other types of networks such as the network of hydrogen bonding, endowing the graft copolymer materials with desired applicable mechanical property. cellulose bottlebrush copolymer thermoplastic elastomers hydrogen bonding Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files RevSICellulosesub.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7302382","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":506508492,"identity":"2b5c8825-5015-4d23-8742-95d4de840882","order_by":0,"name":"Wanyu Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Science and Technology of China","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Wanyu","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":506508493,"identity":"4f957587-4e59-46b8-8b59-b79355b2df03","order_by":1,"name":"Rou Chen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Science and Technology of 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","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7302382/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7302382/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eA series of microcrystalline cellulose-\u003cem\u003egraft\u003c/em\u003ebottlebrush copolymer elastomers (microcrystalline cellulose-\u003cem\u003egraft\u003c/em\u003e-poly(\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e-butyl acrylate-\u003cem\u003eco\u003c/em\u003e-acrylic acid) (MCC-\u003cem\u003eg\u003c/em\u003e-P(\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003eBA-\u003cem\u003eco\u003c/em\u003e-AA)) have been successfully synthesized \u003cem\u003evia\u003c/em\u003e combining activators regenerated by electron transfer for atom transfer radical polymerization (ARGET ATRP) and hydrolysis reaction. Compared to MCC-\u003cem\u003eg\u003c/em\u003e-P(\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003eBA-\u003cem\u003eco\u003c/em\u003e-\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003eBA) copolymers with no hydrolysis, MCC-\u003cem\u003eg\u003c/em\u003e-P(\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003eBA-\u003cem\u003eco\u003c/em\u003e-AA) copolymers possess higher thermal stability and tunable higher glass transition temperatures by adjusting the feed ratio of \u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003eBA and \u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003eBA monomers. Microcrystalline cellulose serves as physical cross-linking points and P(\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003eBA-\u003cem\u003eco\u003c/em\u003e-AA) side chains form the network of hydrogen bonding, and the dense double-network microstructure synergistically obviously enhances the mechanical property of MCC-\u003cem\u003eg\u003c/em\u003e-P(\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003eBA-\u003cem\u003eco\u003c/em\u003e-AA) copolymers for potential applications. With increasing PAA mass content, the mechanical property of MCC-\u003cem\u003eg\u003c/em\u003e-P(\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003eBA-\u003cem\u003eco\u003c/em\u003e-AA) copolymers can be conveniently tuned from ductile one to robust one with a wide range of ultimate tensile strength from 1.4 to 10.6 MPa. Atomic force microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering measurements reveal that the graft copolymers are homogeneous. This convenient and robust grafting strategy can be further utilized to build up a physical cross-linking network in cellulose-based thermoplastic elastomer copolymers associated with other types of networks such as the network of hydrogen bonding, endowing the graft copolymer materials with desired applicable mechanical property.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Syntheses of microcrystalline cellulose-graft bottlebrush copolymer elastomers with hydrogen bonding interactions to endow applicable mechanical property","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-10-26 03:08:22","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7302382/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"7f34472c-b7d6-4d6c-ad34-d59fab9c0cf3","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 26th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-11-20T21:08:07+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-10-26 03:08:22","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7302382","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7302382","identity":"rs-7302382","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}