Premium
Combination of Episulfide Ring‐Opening Polymerization With ATRP for the Preparation of Amphiphilic Block Copolymers
Author(s) -
Vo CongDuan,
Cadman Christopher J.,
Donno Roberto,
Goos Jeroen A. C. M.,
Tirelli Nicola
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.201200636
Subject(s) - copolymer , amphiphile , polysulfide , polymer chemistry , polymerization , monomer , materials science , dispersity , micelle , polymer , degree of polymerization , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , electrode , aqueous solution , electrolyte
We report for the first time the combination of ATRP and ring‐opening episulfide polymerization as a means to synthesize polysulfide‐based low‐dispersity amphiphilic block copolymers. The most significant finding is the possibility to perform ATRP under mild conditions using poly(propylene sulfide) macroinitiators, apparently without any significant copper sequestration by the polysulfides. Using glycerol monomethacrylate (GMMA) as a hydrophilic monomer, the polymers self‐assembled in colloidal structures with a morphology depending on the PS/GMMA ratio, but also probably on GMMA degree of polymerization. We here also present a new AFM‐based method to calculate the average number of amphiphilic macromolecules per micelle.