Living spontaneous gradient copolymers of acrylic acid and styrene: one-pot synthesis of pH-responsive amphiphiles
- 22 December 2009
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in Polymer Chemistry
- Vol. 1 (3), 326-332
- https://doi.org/10.1039/b9py00301k
Abstract
RAFT polymerization was used to prepare copolymers of acrylic acid (AA) and styrene (STY) with mole fractions of STY (FSTY ) ranging from 0.1 to 0.3 and targeted degrees of polymerization between 50 and 150. The high reactivity of AA-terminal radicals towards STY in this system (rAA = 0.082) resulted in the spontaneous formation of composition gradients, resulting in polymers with block-like structures comprising a STY-rich segment, a relatively short transitional segment, and a segment of AA homopolymer. Atomic force microscopy analysis of thin films of the copolymer revealed phase separated structures which developed after exposure to water. Dynamic light scattering measurements showed pH-responsive amphiphilicity that resulted in dissolved polymer at neutral and basic pH and self-assembly in weakly acidic solutions.Keywords
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