Novel Polymer Clusters with a Uniform Chain Density

Abstract

The thermal decomposition of polystyrene clusters prepared by using 4-methacryloyloxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxyl as a branching agent was studied. The weight-average molar mass (M̄w) and the radius of gyration (Rg) of the resultant clusters can be scaled as M̄w ∝︁ Rg3.0 ± 0.1, revealing that these clusters have a uniform chain density. Moreover, the dynamic properties of such clusters converge unexpectedly faster than the static properties as the molar mass decreases.