Issue 37, 2023

High-throughput concurrent synthesis of core-crosslinked star-polydimethylsiloxane using an arm-first approach

Abstract

In this work we use RAFT crosslinking polymerisation coupled with a Chemspeed robotic synthesis platform to optimise conditions to produce PDMS-arm star polymers by an arm-first strategy. The high-throughput polymer product library demonstrated relatively low dispersity (Đ ≈ 1.5), high monomer conversion (>85%) and consistent size (20–40 nm). Varying the crosslinker resulted in differences in polymer product profiles as identified by size exclusion chromatography, with larger linkers between methacrylate handles causing reduced Mn and multimodal distribution compared to ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, regardless of starting arm composition or Mn. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed greater thermal stability for star polymers with increased PDMS content.

Graphical abstract: High-throughput concurrent synthesis of core-crosslinked star-polydimethylsiloxane using an arm-first approach

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
27 Mar 2023
Accepted
17 Aug 2023
First published
20 Aug 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Polym. Chem., 2023,14, 4282-4293

High-throughput concurrent synthesis of core-crosslinked star-polydimethylsiloxane using an arm-first approach

D. J. Eyckens, S. Howard, G. Moad, B. W. Muir, A. Postma and R. Simons, Polym. Chem., 2023, 14, 4282 DOI: 10.1039/D3PY00331K

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