Issue 18, 2021

Synthesis, characterization and self-assembly of linear and miktoarm star copolymers of exclusively immiscible polydienes

Abstract

Linear and non-linear copolymers of the PB-b-PI sequence [PB: polybutadiene of high 1,4-microstructure (∼92%) and PI: polyisoprene of high 3,4-microstructure (∼55–60%)] and their corresponding miktoarm star copolymers of the PB(PI3,4)2 and PB(PI3,4)3 type were synthesized by combining anionic polymerization and selective chlorosilane chemistry. Molecular characteristics, thermal properties and structure/properties relationship are reported for the specific copolymers and especially the self-assembly is of major importance and interest due to the nature of the blocks. The identical electron densities between the two polydienes led to impossible morphological characterization through small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and only transmission electron microscopy results verify the adopted morphology for each copolymer, justifying the assumption that the segment–segment interaction parameter between the two polydienes of high 1,4-microstructure (∼92%) for the PB and ∼55–60% 3,4-microstructure for the PI is well above zero. The consistency of the bulk morphology results of this study compared with those of the extensively studied system of the PS(PI)n=1,2,3 type (PS: polystyrene), were unexpectedly coherent. High chain flexibility provided by the two polydiene segments, leads to promising properties unattainable from corresponding thermoplastic triblock copolymers of these polydienes with PS (PS-b-PI-b-PS, PS-b-PB-b-PS), especially for rheological studies.

Graphical abstract: Synthesis, characterization and self-assembly of linear and miktoarm star copolymers of exclusively immiscible polydienes

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
25 Feb 2021
Accepted
12 Apr 2021
First published
12 Apr 2021
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Polym. Chem., 2021,12, 2712-2721

Synthesis, characterization and self-assembly of linear and miktoarm star copolymers of exclusively immiscible polydienes

K. Ntetsikas, D. Moschovas, G. Zapsas, I. Moutsios, K. Tsitoni, G. Manesi, A. F. Nabiullin, N. Hadjichristidis, D. A. Ivanov and A. Avgeropoulos, Polym. Chem., 2021, 12, 2712 DOI: 10.1039/D1PY00258A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements