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Synthesis of Amphiphilic Poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone)-b-poly(vinyl acetate) Molecular Bottlebrushes
Alper Nese1, Yuanchao Li2, Saadyah Averick1
1Department of Chemistry, Center for Macromolecular Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 4400 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, United States.
Abstract:
Well-defined molecular bottlebrushes with poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) and poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone)-b-poly(vinyl acetate) (PNVP-b-PVOAc) side chains were prepared via a combination of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT). A macro chain transfer agent poly(2-((2-ethylxanthatepropanoyl)oxy)ethyl methacrylate) (PXPEM) was prepared by attaching xanthate chain transfer agents onto each monomeric unit of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate). Subsequently, a RAFT polymerization procedure was used to synthesize molecular bottlebrushes with PNVP side chains with controlled molecular weight and low polydispersity by grafting from the PXPEM backbone. The side chains were then chain extended with PVOAc, yielding a bottlebrush macromolecule with PNVP-b-PVOAc side chains. The comb-like shape of the chain extended bottlebrushes was confirmed by atomic force microscopy (AFM).
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