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Synthesis of lauryl methacrylate star‐like polymers via ATRP
Author(s) -
Qiu Lei,
Wang Yufeng,
Lin Qunfang,
Zhou Xiaodong
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
asia‐pacific journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.348
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1932-2143
pISSN - 1932-2135
DOI - 10.1002/apj.317
Subject(s) - atom transfer radical polymerization , polymer chemistry , methacrylate , ethylene glycol dimethacrylate , polymer , gel permeation chromatography , chemistry , polymerization , materials science , organic chemistry , methacrylic acid
Lauryl methacrylate (LMA) star‐like polymers were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) using the ‘arm‐first’ method. Linear poly lauryl methacrylate (PLMA) precursors were firstly prepared with ethyl α‐bromoisobutyrate (EBriB) as initiator and cuprous chloride (CuCl)/N,N,N′,N″,N″‐pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA) as catalyst in cyclohexanone via ATRP, and subsequently used as macromolecule initiator(MI) to synthesize star polymers in the presence of cross‐linker ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA). Several experimental parameters, such as the PLMA arm length, the ratio of MI to cross‐linker, the addition amount and moment of cross‐linker and the reaction time for the star formation were systematically investigated. The samples were removed at regular intervals and analyzed by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) to track Mn and Mw/Mn of star‐like polymer, by which the influence of the experimental parameters on the structures of the star‐like polymers was studied. Employing shorter arm lengths and more cross‐linker could produce star‐like polymers with higher molecular weight and more arms per star. Copyright © 2009 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.