In situ synthesis of a self-assembled AB/B blend of
poly(ethylene glycol)-b-polystyrene/polystyrene by dispersion RAFT
polymerization
Yuan, B (Yuan, Bing)[ 1 ] ; He, X (He, Xin)[ 1 ] ; Qu, YQ (Qu, Yaqing)[ 1 ] ; Gao, CQ (Gao, Chengqiang)[ 1 ] ; Eiser, E (Eiser, Erika)[ 2 ] ; Zhang, WQ (Zhang, Wangqing)[ 1,3 ]
POLYMER
CHEMISTRY, 2017, 8(14): 2173-2181
DOI: 10.1039/c7py00339k
WOS:000399204900006
Abstract:
A diblock-copolymer/homopolymer self-assembled blend of
poly( ethylene glycol)-block-polystyrene/ polystyrene (PEG-b-PS/PS) was
synthesized through dispersion RAFT polymerization. In this dispersion RAFT
polymerization reaction, a macro-RAFT agent and a small RAFT agent containing
the same RAFT moiety were simultaneously used. By tuning the molar ratio of the
macro-RAFT agent and the small RAFT agent fed into the dispersion RAFT
polymerization mixture, PEG-b-PS/PS self-assembled blends with different morphologies
could be prepared. It is found that the PEG-b-PS/PS self-assembled blend
synthesized by dispersion RAFT polymerization is very different from the blend
prepared via micellization of a pre-synthesized PEG-b-PS/PS mixture, and its
morphology changes from vesicles, to compartmentalized vesicles and finally to
porous nanospheres with a decreasing ratio of PEG-b-PS/PS in the blends. It is
believed that the present dispersion RAFT polymerization technique, which
simultaneously uses a macro-RAFT agent and a small RAFT agent, is a valid
method to synthesize self-assembled block copolymer blends.