Abstract
Bottlebrush polymers are synthesized using a tandem ring-opening polymerization (ROP) and ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) strategy. For the first time, ROP and ROMP are conducted sequentially in the same pot to yield well-defined bottlebrush polymers with molecular weights in excess of 106 Da. The first step of this process involves the synthesis of a polylactide macromonomer (MM) via ROP of d,l-lactide initiated by an alcohol-functionalized norbornene. ROMP grafting-through is then carried out in the same pot to produce the bottlebrush polymer. The applicability of this methodology is evaluated for different MM molecular weights and bottlebrush backbone degrees of polymerization. Size-exclusion chromatographic and 1H NMR spectroscopic analyses confirm excellent control over both polymerization steps. In addition, bottlebrush polymers are imaged using atomic force microscopy and stain-free transmission electron microscopy on graphene oxide.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 616-621 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Macromolecular Rapid Communications |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 1 2016 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
This work was supported by the Army Research Office (W911NF-14-1-0322) and the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (54884-DNI7). The authors thank Materia for catalyst and Prof. Rachel O' Reilly (University of Warwick) for graphene oxide.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Army Research Office | W911NF-14-1-0322 |
| American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund | 54884-DNI7 |
| University of Warwick |
Keywords
- Grubbs' catalyst
- PLA
- comb polymers
- degradable polymers
- graphene oxide