Emulsion Formed with Polymer-Bounded Catalysts

Emulsion Formed with Polymer-Bounded Catalysts 

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Emulsion Formed with Polymer-Bounded Catalysts... 

The final system that is worth mentioning in this chapter on LRP in emulsion is the use of 1,1-diphenylethylene (DPE) (127). DPE adds to a growing radical and forms a radical with a reactivity too low for propagation. The exact mechanism is not elucidated, but the incorporation of DPE leads to a chain that allows chain extension or block copolymer formation. More or less similar to what was described about the xanthates in RAFT polymerization, here also the molar mass distributions are relatively broad. The greatest advantage of DPE-mediated polymerization is the fact that it results in minimal disturbance of the polymerization process. The product latex does not contain any unusual extractable material (like the catalyst in ATRP), or polymer-bound colored moieties (like the thiocar-bonylthio compound in RAFT). The obvious drawback is the limited control over chain architecture, and the limited understanding of the mechanistic details. 

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