Controlled/living radical polymerization: Features, developments, and perspectives

http://wwwcourses.sens.buffalo.edu/ce435/Riess03.pdf

Micellization of block copolymers

|[lsquo]|Living|[rsquo]| Polymers

Advances in synthetic polymer chemistry have unleashed seemingly unlimited strategies for producing block polymers with arbitrary numbers (n) and types (k) of unique sequences of repeating units. Increasing (k,n) leads to a geometric expansion of possible molecular architectures, beyond conventional ABA-type triblock copolymers (k = 2, n = 3), offering alluring opportunities to generate exquisitely tailored materials with unparalleled control over nanoscale-domain geometry, packing symmetry, and chemical composition. Transforming this potential into targeted structures endowed with useful properties hinges on imaginative molecular designs guided by predictive theory and computer simulation. Here, we review recent developments in the field of block polymers.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/336/6080/434.full.pdf

Multiblock Polymers: Panacea or Pandora’s Box?

In this Perspective, we discuss the recent development of polymerization-induced self-assembly mediated by reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) aqueous dispersion polymerization. This approach has quickly become a powerful and versatile technique for the synthesis of a wide range of bespoke organic diblock copolymer nano-objects of controllable size, morphology, and surface functionality. Given its potential scalability, such environmentally-friendly formulations are expected to offer many potential applications, such as novel Pickering emulsifiers, efficient microencapsulation vehicles, and sterilizable thermo-responsive hydrogels for the cost-effective long-term storage of mammalian cells.

R. Milkovich

Papers

Polymerization initiated by electron transfer to monomer. a new method of formation of block polymers1