mz9b00534_si_001.pdf (1.88 MB)
Exploitation of the Nanoreactor Concept for Efficient Synthesis of Multiblock Copolymers via MacroRAFT-Mediated Emulsion Polymerization
journal contribution
posted on 2019-07-23, 12:34 authored by Glenn
K. K. Clothier, Thiago R. Guimarães, Murtaza Khan, Graeme Moad, Sébastien Perrier, Per B. ZetterlundMultiblock copolymers
are a class of polymeric materials with a
range of potential applications. We report here a strategy for the
synthesis of multiblock copolymers based on methacrylates. Reversible
addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization
is implemented as an emulsion polymerization to generate seed particles
as nanoreactors, which can subsequently be employed in sequential
RAFT emulsion polymerizations. The segregation effect allowed the
synthesis of a high molar mass (>100,000 g·mol–1) decablock homopolymer at a high polymerization rate to an extent
not previously achieved. A heptablock copolymer containing seven different
100 unit blocks was also successfully prepared, demonstrating how
the strategy can be employed to precisely control the polymer composition
at a level hitherto not accessible in environmentally friendly aqueous
emulsion polymerization. Importantly, the methodology is a batch process
without any intermediate purification steps, thus, rendering industrial
scale up more feasible.