Macromolecular Rapid Communications, Vol.32, No.19, 1576-1582, 2011
Synthesis of Well-defined Amphiphilic Block Copolymers by Organotellurium-Mediated Living Radical Polymerization (TERP)
Low-molecular weight amphiphilic diblock copolymers, polystyrene-block-poly (2-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P2VP), and (P2VP-b-PS) with different block ratios were synthesized for the first time via organotellurium-mediated living radical polymerization (TERP). For both the homo- and block copolymerizations, good agreement between the theoretical, and experimental molecular weights was found with nearly 100% yield in every case. The molecular weight distribution for all the samples ranged between 1.10 and 1.24, which is well below the theoretical lower limit of 1.50 for a conventional free radical polymerization. Furthermore, a very simple approach to producing highly dense arrays of titania nanoparticles (TiO(2)) is presented using a site-selective reaction of titanium tetraisopropoxide within the P2VP domains of micellar film of P2VP-b-PS in toluene through the sol-gel method.
Keywords:amphiphilic;block copolymers;DSC;electron microscopy;gel permeation chromatography (GPC);nanocomposites