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Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization of Functionalized Vinyl Monomers Using Perylene as a Visible Light Photocatalyst
Published on: April 22, 2016
Photoirradiation-generated radicals in two-component supramolecular gel for polymerization
Hejin Jiang1, Qingxian Jin2, Jing Li2
1Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science, CAS Key Laboratory of Colloid, Interface and Chemical Thermodynamics, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhongguancun North First Street 2, Beijing 100190, China. zhangli@iccas.ac.cn liumh@iccas.ac.cn and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Abstract:
While supramolecular gels have been attracting great interest due to their easy design and fabrication, development of new applications based on these gels is always a challenging topic. Here, we report a two-component supramolecular gel that can generate and stabilize radicals through photo-irradiation, which can be subsequently used for polymerization. It has been found that the electrostatic interactions between a cationic amphiphile and anionic sulfonate could afford co-assembly into a two-component supramolecular gel. Upon photo-irradiation, the gel changed colour and produced the radicals, as verified from the EPR measurements. The radical thus formed in the supramolecular gel is relatively stable and could be used to polymerize acrylic acid directly without deoxygenation. In contrast, acrylic acid could not be polymerized in solution under the same conditions. This work expands the application scope of supramolecular gels.
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