Ethylene Polymerization‐Induced Self‐Assembly (PISA) of Poly(ethylene oxide)‐<i>block</i>‐polyethylene Copolymers via RAFT
Cédric Bergerbit, Florian Baffie, Arne Wolpers, Pierre‐Yves Dugas, Olivier Boyron, Manel Taam, Muriel Lansalot, Vincent Monteil, Franck D’Agosto
Abstract
, named PEO-1 and PEO-2, respectively) were used as macromolecular chain-transfer agents (macro-CTAs) to mediate the reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization of ethylene in dimethyl carbonate (DMC) under relatively mild conditions (80 °C, 80 bar). While only a slow consumption of PEO-1 was observed, the rapid consumption of PEO-2 led to a clean chain extension and the formation of a polyethylene (PE) segment. Upon polymerization, the resulting block copolymers PEO-b-PE self-assembled into nanometric objects according to a polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA).
Topics & Concepts
Chain transferCopolymerEthylene oxideRaftPolymerizationPolymer chemistryReversible addition−fragmentation chain-transfer polymerizationPolyethyleneLiving polymerizationMaterials scienceEthyleneChemistryRadical polymerizationOrganic chemistryPolymerCatalysisAdvanced Polymer Synthesis and CharacterizationSynthetic Organic Chemistry Methodsbiodegradable polymer synthesis and properties