Abstract
Star polymers with block copolymer arms were prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) via an arm-first method. Several macroinitiators based on block copolymers (MIs), PBA-b-PtBA–Br, PtBA-b-PBA–Br, PSAN-b-PBA–Br, and PBA-b-PtBA–Br, were prepared by activators regenerated by electron transfer (ARGET) ATRP to maintain high chain-end functionality. Then the MIs were reacted with divinylbenzene as a cross-linker to form star-shaped polymers via ARGET ATRP. Several parameters including concentration of reducing agent, copper catalyst concentration, degree of polymerization (DP) of MIs, and composition of MIs were investigated. A high level of control was achieved by sequential feeding of the reducing agents for DPMI ≤ 100. Stars in >95% yield and with narrow molecular weight distributions (Mw/Mn < 1.3) were obtained under the optimized polymerization condition.
Published Version
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