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Double‐Grafted Cylindrical Brushes: Synthesis and Characterization of Poly(lauryl methacrylate) Brushes
Author(s) -
Xu Youyong,
Becker Harald,
Yuan Jiayin,
Burkhardt Markus,
Zhang Yong,
Walther Andreas,
Bolisetty Sreenath,
Ballauff Matthias,
Müller Axel H. E.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
macromolecular chemistry and physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.57
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1521-3935
pISSN - 1022-1352
DOI - 10.1002/macp.200700097
Subject(s) - atom transfer radical polymerization , side chain , polymer chemistry , radius of gyration , hydrodynamic radius , methacrylate , alkyl , monomer , materials science , polymerization , polymer , chemistry , composite material , copolymer , organic chemistry
Double‐grafted cylindrical brushes with poly(lauryl methacrylate) (PLMA) as the side chains were synthesized using the grafting‐from strategy via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The polyinitiator poly[2‐(2‐bromoisobutyryloxy)ethyl methacrylate] (PBIEM) with $\overline {DP} _{\rm n}$ = 240 and 1 500 served as the backbone. The PLMA side chains of the brushes carry long alkyl chains. GPC and 1 H NMR measurements confirmed the successful formation of the PLMA cylindrical brushes. The side chains were cleaved from the cylindrical brushes by transesterification. GPC and 1 H NMR results indicate that the initiating efficiency of the bromoester groups on the backbone for the bulky monomer was in the range of 0.34 ≤ f ≤ 0.67. Static and dynamic light scattering show that the ratio of the radius of gyration to the hydrodynamic radius, R g / R h , is in the range of 1.2–1.3, indicating that the LMA cylindrical brushes are semiflexible in solution. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements show that short PLMA brushes exhibit a spherical morphology while the long brushes exhibit a worm‐like structure. DSC displayed melting peaks at around −30 °C, indicating the alkyl side chains of the PLMA chains in the double‐grafted cylindrical brushes are crystallizable.