Abstract
Polydisperse hyperbranched polyesters were modified for use as novel multifunctional reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) agents. The polyester-core-based RAFT agents were subsequently employed to synthesize star polymers of n-butyl acrylate and styrene with low polydispersity (polydispersity index < 1.3) in a living free-radical process. Although the polyester-core-based RAFT agent mediated polymerization of n-butyl acrylate displayed a linear evolution of the number-average molecular weight (Mn) up to high monomer conversions (>70%) and molecular weights [Mn > 140,000 g mol-1, linear poly(methyl methacrylate) equivalents)], the corresponding styrene-based system reached a maximum molecular weight at low conversions (≈30%, Mn = 45,500 g mol-1, linear polystyrene equivalents). The resulting star polymers were subsequently used as platforms for the preparation of star block copolymers of styrene and n-butyl acrylate with a polyester core with low polydispersities (polydispersity index < 1.25). The generated polystyrene-based star polymers were successfully cast into highly regular honeycomb-structured microarrays.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 3847-3861 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Journal of Polymer Science, Part A: Polymer Chemistry |
Volume | 41 |
Issue number | 23 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 2003 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Dendrimers
- Honeycomb-structured arrays
- Hyperbranched
- Kinetics (polym.)
- Reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT)