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Polymers 13(4), 606 (1-15) (2021). doi:10.3390/polym13040606, A series of carbosilane dendrimers of the 4th, 6th, and 7th generations with a terminal trimethylsilylsiloxane layer was synthesized. Theoretical models of these dendrimers were developed, and equilibrium dendrimer conformations obtained via molecular dynamics simulations were in a good agreement with experimental small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) data demonstrating molecule monodispersity and an almost spherical shape. It was confirmed that the glass transition temperature is independent of the dendrimer generation, but is greatly affected by the chemical nature of the dendrimer terminal groups. A sharp increase in the zero-shear viscosity of dendrimer melts was found between the 5th and the 7th dendrimer generations, which was qualitatively identical to that previously reported for polycarbosilane dendrimers with butyl terminal groups. The viscoelastic properties of high-generation dendrimers seem to follow some general trends with an increase in the generation number, which are determined by the regular branching structure of dendrimers., Published by MDPI, Basel

We studied the conformational behavior of silicon-containing dendrimers during their adsorption onto a flat impenetrable surface by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Four homologous series of dendrimers from the 4th up to the 7th generations were modeled, namely, two types of carbosilane dendrimers differing by the functionality of the core Si atom and two types of siloxane dendrimers with different lengths of the spacers. Comparative analysis of the fractions of adsorbed atoms belonging to various structural layers within dendrimers as well as density profiles allowed us to elucidate not only some general trends but also the effects determined by dendrimer specificity. In particular, it was found that in contrast to the carbosilane dendrimers interacting with the adsorbing surface mainly by their peripheral layers, the siloxane dendrimers with the longer –O–Si(CH3)2–O spacers expose atoms from their interior to the surface spreading out on it. These findings are important for the design of functional materials on the basis of silicon-containing dendrimers.

A comparative analysis of intramolecular dynamics of four types of isolated dendrimers from the fourth to the seventh generations belonging to the siloxane and carbosilane families, differing in spacer length, core functionality, and the type of chemical bonds, has been performed via atomic molecular dynamics simulations. The average radial and angular positions of all Si branching atoms of various topological layers within the dendrimer interior, as well as their variations, have been calculated, and the distributions of the relaxation times of their radial and angular motions have been found. It has been shown that the dendrons of all the dendrimers elongate from the center and decrease in a solid angle with an increasing generation number. The characteristic relaxation times of both angular and radial motions of Si atoms are of the order of a few nanoseconds, and they increase with an increasing generation number and decrease with temperature, with the angular relaxation times being larger than the radial ones. The relaxation times in the carbosilanes are larger than those in the siloxanes. The rotational angle dynamics of the carbosilane dendrimers show that the chain bending is mainly realized via trans-gauche transitions in the Si branching bonds.