Synthesis and Utilization of Low Dispersity Acrylic Macromonomer as Dispersant for Nonaqueous Dispersion Polymerization

End-functionalized polymers by controlled/living radical polymerizations: synthesis and applications

This review focuses on end-functionalized polymers synthesized by controlled/living radical polymerizations and the applications in fields including bioconjugate formation, surface modification, topology construction, and self-assembly.

ω-Unsaturated methacrylate macromonomers as reactive polymeric stabilizers in mini-emulsion polymerization

Polymer latexes of poly(benzyl methacrylate) P(BzMA) were synthesized by mini-emulsion polymerization, using hexadecane as the hydrophobe and ω-unsaturated methacrylate-based macromonomers as a reactive stabilizer. The amphiphilic macromonomers were synthesized by...

Synthesis of uniform submicron poly(lactic acid)-based particles/capsules by radical precipitation polymerization

Poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) is a well-known biopolymer, usually synthesized via step-growth or ring-opening polymerization from lactic acid or a lactide monomer, respectively. PLLA microspherical particles are produced by dispersion polymerization with a ring-opening lactide monomer using a particular copolymer chain as a stabilizer. This is not easy to achieve when dehydration is needed. Here, a robust and simple synthesis of a nearly monodisperse, submicron PLLA-based particle/capsule was proposed via radical precipitation polymerization without the use of surfactant. A commercial PLLA was first glycolyzed with ethylene glycol to obtain a low molecular weight glycolyzed PLLA (GPLLA). Then, the GPLLA was copolymerized with methacrylic acid and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate monomers using a benzoyl peroxide initiator. Active sites on the GPLLA backbone were generated by hydrogen abstraction of benzoyloxy radicals that further copolymerized before self-assembly to form the polymer particles. Uniform particle size of about 580 nm with a low polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.012 was obtained. This method was also implemented to produce nearly monodisperse capsules containing linalool. The particle size of PLLA-based capsules was about 280 nm with narrow particle size distribution (PDI of 0.120). The PLLA-based capsules effectively inhibited microbial growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans and were not toxic to human cells.

Maximizing macromonomer content produced by starved-feed high temperature acrylate/methacrylate semi-batch polymerization

Suitable semi-batch reaction conditions are determined to maximize the fraction of acrylate chains with TDBs while also achieved a target polymer molar mass.