Synthesis of Thermoresponsive Diblock Copolymer Nano-Objects via RAFT Aqueous Emulsion Polymerization of Hydroxybutyl Methacrylate.

ABSTRACT: We recently reported that the reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) aqueous emulsion polymerization of hydroxybutyl methacrylate (HBMA) using a relatively short non-ionic poly(glycerol monomethacrylate) (PGMA) precursor enables convenient preparation of diblock copolymer nano-objects with spherical, worm-like, or vesicular morphologies. We postulated that the relatively high aqueous solubility of HBMA (∼25 g dm^-3 at 50 °C) was likely to be a key parameter for overcoming the problem of kinetically trapped spheres that is observed for many RAFT aqueous emulsion polymerization formulations. In this study, we revisit the RAFT aqueous emulsion polymerization of HBMA using a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) precursor as a steric stabilizer block. Remarkably, the resulting

SUBMITTER: Hunter SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9047412 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature