Abstract
Multiresponsive polymers that can respond to several external stimuli are promising materials for a manifold of applications. Herein, a facile method for the synthesis of triple‐responsive (pH, temperature, CO2) poly(N,N‐diethylaminoethyl methacrylamide) by a post‐polymerization amidation of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is presented. Combined with trivalent counterions ([Fe(CN)6]3−) both an upper and lower critical solution temperature (UCST/LCST)‐type phase behavior can be realized at pH 8 and 9. PMMA and PMMA‐based block copolymers are readily accessible by living anionic and controlled radical polymerization techniques, which opens access to various responsive polymer architectures based on the developed functionalization method. This method can also be applied on melt‐processed bulk PMMA samples to introduce functional, responsive moieties at the PMMA surface.
Highlights
Multiresponsive polymers that can respond to several external stimuli are promising materials for a manifold of applications
We made use of an efficient post-polymerization modification to convert poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), which is accessible by living anionic, as well as controlled radical polymerization techniques, into a triple-responsive polymer, being responsive to pH, temperature and CO2. This was realized by amidation of PMMA with different preactivated N,N-dialkylethylenediamines to give the corresponding poly(N,N-dialkylaminoethyl methacrylamide)s, which were studied with respect to their responsive solution behavior
A quantitative conversion of the methyl ester groups of PMMA is indispensable to avoid hydrolysis to methacrylic acid at elevated temperatures and high pH values, which will cause a significant shift of the cloud point to higher temperatures with time.[8]
Summary
Multiresponsive polymers that can respond to several external stimuli are promising materials for a manifold of applications. This was realized by amidation of PMMA with different preactivated N,N-dialkylethylenediamines to give the corresponding poly(N,N-dialkylaminoethyl methacrylamide)s (alkyl = methyl, ethyl, iso-propyl; PDxAEMAm), which were studied with respect to their responsive solution behavior.
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