Preparation of polyacrylonitrile via SET-LRP catalyzed by lanthanum powder in the presence of VC

Up in the air: oxygen tolerance in controlled/living radical polymerisation

The requirement for deoxygenation in controlled/living radical polymerisation (CLRP) places significant limitations on its widespread implementation by necessitating the use of large reaction volumes, sealed reaction vessels as well as requiring access to specialised equipment such as a glove box and/or inert gas source. As a result, in recent years there has been intense interest in developing strategies for overcoming the effects of oxygen inhibition in CLRP and therefore remove the necessity for deoxygenation. In this review, we highlight several strategies for achieving oxygen tolerant CLRP including: "polymerising through" oxygen, enzyme mediated deoxygenation and the continuous regeneration of a redox-active catalyst. In order to provide further clarity to the field, we also establish some basic parameters for evaluating the degree of "oxygen tolerance" that can be achieved using a given oxygen scrubbing strategy. Finally, we propose some applications that could most benefit from the implementation of oxygen tolerant CLRP and provide a perspective on the future direction of this field.

Cu(0)-mediated living radical polymerization: recent highlights and applications; a perspective

Cu(0)-mediated living radical polymerization or single electron transfer living radical polymerization (Cu(0)-mediated LRP or SET-LRP) is a versatile polymerization technique that has attracted considerable interest during the past few years for the facile preparation of advanced materials.

Sweet potato starch residue as starting material to prepare polyacrylonitrile adsorbent via SI-SET-LRP

Sweet potato starch residue (SPSR) was used as starting material to prepare an eco-friendly adsorbent. SPSR was modified by bromoacetyl bromide to obtain a macroinitiator for surface-initiated single electron transfer-living radical polymerization (SI-SET-LRP) of acrylonitrile (AN) catalyzed by La(0)/hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) in the presence of ascorbic acid (VC). The amidoxime (AO) adsorbent was prepared by the reaction of the graft copolymer bromoactylated sweet potato starch (BSPS)/polyacrylonitrile (BSPS-g-PAN) with hydroxylamine. The maximum adsorption capacity for Hg(II) was 4.03 mmol·g(-1). This simple method provided a novel approach to recycle and reuse agricultural residues for controlling heavy metal pollution.

Reversible deactivation radical polymerization in the presence of zero-valent metals: from components to precise polymerization

We highlight recent work from the advent of zero-valent metal-mediated RDRP looking at advances in its components and the synthesis of well-defined polymers.