Ideal Mixing in Multicomponent Brushes of Branched Polymers

We predict theoretically that in contrast to composite brushes of end-tethered linear polymers that exhibit vertical stratification, chemically identical branched macromolecules with different molecular weights and selected architectures can distribute their free ends all over the volume of composite brush and produce a unified polymer density profile. As a result of this, we expect the presence of terminal end-groups of all constituent macromolecular species in the vicinity of the external boundary of such composite brush. The predictions of the analytical theory are supported by numerical self-consistent field calculations. Unified brushes offer new possibilities in the design of polymer-decorated surfaces and might improve our understanding of natural biointerfaces.