Thermoresponsive gels directly obtained via visible light-mediated polymerization-induced self-assembly with oxygen tolerance†
Abstract
In this report, a controlled radical polymerization technique named photoinduced electron transfer-reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (PET-RAFT) polymerization is applied to polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) to prepare poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate) (PEG-b-PHPMA) copolymers and thermoresponsive gels, which is conducted in aqueous solution at room temperature without deoxygenation. This strategy shows excellent tolerance to oxygen and obtains well-defined block copolymers by using Ru(bpy)3Cl2 as a photoredox catalyst.