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Synthesis and Solution-state Assembly or Bulk State Thiol-ene Crosslinking of Pyrrolidinone- and Alkene-functionalized Amphiphilic Block Fluorocopolymers: From Functional Nanoparticles to Anti-fouling Coatings

Jun Ma A , Jeremy W. Bartels A , Zhou Li A , Ke Zhang A , Chong Cheng B and Karen L. Wooley A C D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Chemistry, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA.

B Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, the State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA.

C Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77842, USA.

D Corresponding author. Email: wooley@mail.chem.tamu.edu

Australian Journal of Chemistry 63(8) 1159-1163 https://doi.org/10.1071/CH10011
Submitted: 8 January 2010  Accepted: 9 February 2010   Published: 10 August 2010

Abstract

With an ever increasing interest in the combined functionality and versatility of materials, increasing demands are placed on synthetic methodologies by which to produce such materials. This work demonstrates the preparation of block copolymers having fluorocarbon content, pyrrolidinone units, and alkene groups as complex building blocks for the assembly of discrete nanoparticles in solution and, alternatively, transformation into sophisticated crosslinked networks. Reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization is a facile tool for the synthesis of well-defined polymers containing imbedded side-chain functionalities. In this work, the synthesis of well-defined multifunctional fluorinated polymers bearing pendant pyrrolidinone groups, and block copolymers bearing both pyrrolidinone and alkenyl groups on different segments was achieved, by using RAFT polymerizations of unique bifunctional monomers. Upon micellization, the amphiphilic diblock copolymers were transformed into regioselectively-functionalized nanoparticles. Further transformations of pyrrolidinone- and alkene-dual functionalized-block copolymers into complex amphiphilic networks were accomplished by highly efficient UV-induced thiol-ene reactions. Whether as discrete nanoparticles or nanoscopically-segregated crosslinked networks, these materials have great potential for several diverse technologies, including as anti-fouling materials.


Acknowledgements

This material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0451490 and the Office of Naval Research under Grant No. N00014–08–1-0398.


References


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[32]   The cross-linking percentages are obtained by the [alkene]/[thiol] feed ratios, with the assumption of quantitative efficiency of the thiol-ene reaction.

[33]   The increase of the contact angles of networks after cross-linking may be caused by enhanced roughness of the films, and the additional hydrophobicity from the incorporated aliphatic 1,10-decanedithiol.