Journal Article

Synthesis of Ultra-high Molecular Weight SiO2-g-PMMA Particle Brushes

Bockstaller, Michael R., Matyjaszewski, Krzysztof, Li, Sipei, Pietrasik, Joanna, Liu, Tong, Sobieski, Julian, Lin, Kevin C., Olszewski, Mateusz, Wang, Zongyu, Yan, Jiajun

2020

Overview

A simple route to synthesize ultra-high molecular weight particle brushes by surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) from silica nanoparticles was developed. SiO 2 - g -PMMA and SiO 2 - g -PS particle brushes were prepared with different [SiO 2 –Br] 0 concentration of initiating sites on the surface of the nanoparticles. Ultra-high MW (> 10 6 ) SiO 2 - g -PMMA particle brushes with narrow molecular weight distribution (< 1.3) and different grafting densities were synthesized. The grafting density of SiO 2 - g -PMMA particle brushes decreased with increasing target degree of polymerization. The same conditions were applied to the synthesis of SiO 2 - g -PS particle brushes. However, due to the lower propagation rate constant of styrene, coupling between SiO 2 - g -PS particle brushes occurred and also some fraction of unattached homopolystyrene was generated by the thermal self-initiation of styrene, preventing successful synthesis of ultra-high MW SiO 2 - g -PS particle brushes.

• Publisher: Springer US,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Brushes / Chemical synthesis / Chemistry / Chemistry and Materials Science / Coupling (molecular) / Degree of polymerization / Grafting / Inorganic Chemistry / Molecular weight / Molecular weight distribution / Nanoparticles / Organic Chemistry / Polymer Sciences / Polymerization / Polymethyl methacrylate / Polystyrene resins / Silicon dioxide / Styrenes