Stars and Block Copolymers

The properties of the linear material 7.27 and the network copolymer 7.28 have been studied by dynamic mechanical analysis, DSC, and transmission electron microscopy. Evidence was obtained for the formation of highly ordered micro-phase-separated superstructures in the solid state from the materials 7.27. The Cu(bipy)2 moieties appear to form ordered stacks, and this leads to thermoplastic elastomer properties. In contrast, the network structure of 7.28 prevents significant microphase separation [51-53]. By means of related approaches, dinuclear Cu helical complexes have also been used to create block copolymers by functioning as cores [54], and polymer networks have also been formed by using diiron(II) triple helicates as cores for the formation of copolymers with methyl methacrylate [55]. 

Star structures have been prepared by means of an elegant approach that uses metal-polypyridine complexes as metalloinitiators. The first results in this area were reported in 1997 when Fe and Ru tribipyridyl complexes with electrophilic halogenomethyl functionalities (X=Cl, Br or I) were used as multifunctional initiators for the ring-opening polymerization of oxazolines to afford stars 7.30 and 7.31 (Eq. 7.7) [57]. 

The violet Fe-based star polymers 7.30 were found to fragment readily and release the macroligands (Fig. 7.5), whereas the Ru-containing materials 7.31 were stable. 

5 Dissociation of star polymer 7.30 with iron as the core. (Adapted from [57]) 

An analogous approach to polyoxazoline polymerization was reported which uses tetrahedral Cu metalloinitiators 7.32 to create block structures 7.33 (Eq. 7.8) [58]. 

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This S5mthetic method has been extended to the direct synthesis of poly(organophosphazenes) as well as the development of star and block copolymers. For example, triarmed star-branched polyphosphazenes (eg, 6) can be synthesized through the initiation of trifimctional phosphoranimines (22). It has also been shown that the presence of living active sites at the termini of the poljuner chains allows for addition of a second monomer and the formation of block copolymers (23), such as (7) which is formed through the initiation of a difunctional linear phosphoranimine and the subsequent introduction of two different monomers (24). These developments offer the prospect of improved routes... 

The effect of poly(methyl methacrylate), PMMA, on the crystallization kinetics of poly(ethylene oxide) has been investigated using the Avrami equation to analyze the results (80). The crystallization-rate constant, k, decreased as the concentration of PMMA increased. This and other results indicated that, in the blends, crystallization proceeds by a predetermined nucleation and this is followed with a two-dimensional growth. There has been evidence of melt compatibility for these two polymers (81-84) see Section V. Crystallization behavior of blends of poly(ethylene oxide) with poly(propylene oxide) (85) and with poly(vinyl acetate) (83) have been studied, as well as star and block copolymers of ethylene oxide and styrene (86). 

Montero de Espinosa M, Meier MAR (2011) Synthesis of star- and block-copolymers using ADMET head-to-tail selectivity during step-growth polymerization. Chem Commun 47 (6) 1908-1910... 

Sangwoo Jin received his BE degree in 2004 from Kyungbuk National University and PhD degree in 2010 from POSTECH under the supervision of professor Ree. He has worted on the structures of functional star and block copolymers in nanoscale thin films as well as in solutions using grazing incidence and solution X-ray scattering. 

Transparent toughened polystyrene polymers are produced by blending polystyrene with SBS block copolymers (see Section 11.8). During the 1970s and 1980s most development was with block copolymers with a radial (or star) shape. Two types were developed block copolymers with a central butadiene block, and block copolymers with a central polystyrene block. 

Kahayashi N. and Yoshida M., Star-shaped block copolymers and production process thereof, US Patent 6310175, 2001. 

Yijin X. and Caiyaun P., Block and star-hlock copolymers by mechanism transformation. 3. S-(PTHF-PSt)4 and S-(PTHF-PSt-PMMA)4 from living CROP to ATRP, Macromolecules, 33, 4750, 2000. Feldthusen J., Ivan B., and Mueller A.H.E., Synthesis of linear and star-shaped block copolymers of isobutylene and methacrylates hy combination of living cationic and anionic polymerizations. Macromolecules, 31, 578, 1998. 

The paper is organized in the following way In Section 2, the principles of quasi-elastic neutron scattering are introduced, and the method of NSE is shortly outlined. Section 3 deals with the polymer dynamics in dense environments, addressing in particular the influence and origin of entanglements. In Section 4, polymer networks are treated. Section 5 reports on the dynamics of linear homo- and block copolymers, of cyclic and star-shaped polymers in dilute and semi-dilute solutions, respectively. Finally, Section 6 summarizes the conclusions and gives an outlook. 

Statistical, gradient, and block copolymers as well as other polymer architectures (graft, star, comb, hyperbranched) can be synthesized by NMP following the approaches described for ATRP (Secs. 3-15b-4, 3-15b-5) [Hawker et al., 2001]. Block copolymers can be synthesized via NMP using the one-pot sequential or isolated macromonomer methods. The order of addition of monomer is often important, such as styrene first for styrene-isoprene, acrylate first for acrylate-styrene and acrylate-isoprene [Benoit et al., 2000a,b Tang et al., 2003]. Different methods are available to produce block copolymers in which the two blocks are formed by different polymerization mechanisms ... 

This chapter is concerned primarily with the simultaneous polymerization of two monomers to produce statistical and alternating copolymers. The different monomers compete with each other to add to propagating centers, which can be radical or ionic. Graft and block copolymers are not synthesized by the simultaneous and competititive polymerization of two monomers. Each monomer undergoes polymerization alone. A sequence of separate, noncompetitive polymerizations is used to incorporate the different monomers into one polymer chain. The synthesis of block and graft copolymers and variations thereof (e.g., star, comb) are described in Secs. 3-15b-4, 3-15b-5, 5-4, and 9-9. 

The composition of the star-shaped block copolymer is easily determined by proton NMR analysis from this and the mean number average molecular weight (Mn) of the sequence PA, Mn of the polyether component can be calculated. The later is very similar to the value from membrane osometry. Hydroxyl end group of PA(P0)2 star-shaped block copolymers have been titrated and their mean number per copolymer (1.85) agrees with the presence of two polyoxirane branches. On the average, the polydispersity of the star-shaped block copolymers varies between 1.2 and 1.3 (Figure 6). 

Figure 7 compares the water/toluene interfacial tensions measured in the presence of various commercial surfactants and P0/PS based diblock (8) and star-shaped copolymers the higher activity of the star-shaped block copolymers over a broad range of concentrations is clearly put in evidence. 

Macromolecular structures such as star copolymers have been synthesized in the search for polymers with new mechanical and thermal properties and new degradation profiles. Fig. 7 shows a schematic representation of four-armed homo- and block copolymers. 

Fig. 7. Schematic representation of (a) a four-armed star-shaped homopolymer and (b) a star-shaped block copolymer...

ABA tribiock, or all three can be different, as in an ABC triblock copolymer. Obviously, the number of possible block sequences increases rapidly with the number of blocks and the number of different types of block in the chain. One can also synthesize block copolymers with branched architecture, such as star-branched block copolymers, in which each of the arms of the star contains either the same or different block sequences (see Fig. 13-1). One or more of the blocks could also be stiff or liquid crystalline (Chiellini et al. 1994 Chen et al. 1996 Radzilowski et al. 1997 Jenekhe and Chen 1998). For a given type of block copolymer, the degree of polymerization N of the whole molecule, or the degree of polymerization Ni of one or more of the blocks, can be varied. Thus, the number of different types of block copolymers is practically endless. 

Topological Asymmetry. The arms of the star are block copolymers that may have the same molecular weight and composition but differ with respect to the polymeric block that is covalently attached to the core of the star. 

The form and the structure factor of the PEP-PEO star-like block-copolymer... 

Polymer-colloids refer to particles consisting of a solid core surrounded by a polymeric corona. Tills broad class of materials encompasses systems as different as star polymers, block copolymer micelles, and grafted particles. 

Multiarm star polymers have recently emerged as ideal model polymer-colloids, with properties interpolating between those of polymers and hard spheres [62-64]. They are representatives of a large class of soft colloids encompassing grafted particles and block copolymer micelles. Star polymers consist of f polymer chains attached to a solid core, which plays the role of a topological constraint (Fig. Ic). When fire functionality f is large, stars are virtually spherical objects, and for f = oo the hard sphere limit is recovered. A considerable literature describes the synthesis, structure, and dynamics of star polymers both in melt and in solution (for a review see [2]). 

Hedrick et al. reported on the synthesis of 6- and 12-arm star-like block copolymers (Fig. 49) of tBA and MMA using sequential ATRP reactions with a NiBr2(PPh3)2 catalyst [349]. The ferf-butyl esters were subsequently deprotected... 

Ba-Gia H, Jerome R, Teyssie Ph. Star-shaped block copolymers. I. Synthesis of new A(B)2 star-shaped block copolymers based on vinyl or diene hydrocarbons (A) and oxirane (B). J Polym Sci Polym Chem Ed 1980 18 3483-3498. 

Living cationic polymerization techniques are also capable of producing well defined star-block copolymers. An approach similar to the DVB method described above for the case of anionic polymerization was employed in order to prepare amphiphilic star-block copolymers [20]. In one case, living diblock copolymers of vinyl ethers and ester-containing vinyl ethers, prepared by the initiating system Hl/Znh in toluene, were reacted with a small amount of a difunctional vinyl ether to produce star shaped block copolymers (Scheme 5). 

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