RAFT polymerization to form stimuli-responsive polymers

Abstract

Stimuli-responsive polymers respond to a variety of external stimuli, which include optical, electrical, thermal, mechanical, redox, pH, chemical, environmental and biological signals. This paper is concerned with the process of forming such polymers by RAFT polymerization.

Polymerization‐Induced Thermal Self‐Assembly of Functional and Thermo‐Responsive Diblock Copolymer Nano‐Objects via RAFT Aqueous Polymerization

“…Practically, at 25 °C the solution appears transparent while it becomes turbid upon crossing the LSCT. Consequently, above LCST PNIPAm diblock copolymers can self‐assemble into micelles with the collapsed PNIPAm‐block forming the core and the hydrophilic block serving as the corona, and many examples have been reported in the literature . The use of PNIPAm enables another level of control since the self‐assembly of the diblock copolymers does not occur upon polymerization but is triggered by temperature increase.…”

A new thermoresponsive polymer of poly(N-acryloylsarcosine methyl ester) with a tunable LCST

“…[1][2][3] Amongst the thermoresponsive polymers, an abundance of macromolecules exhibiting a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) with a coil-to-globule transition in water solution, are probably the most investigated. To date, the LCSTtype thermoresponsive polymers can be summarized into six categories: poly[oligo(ethylene glycol) (meth)acrylate]s, [5][6][7] poly(2alkyl-2-oxazoline)s, 8,9 poly(vinyl methyl ether)s, 10,11 polypeptides, [12][13][14] N-alkyl-substituted poly(aminoethyl methacrylate)s, [15][16][17][18] and especially N-substituted poly(meth)acrylamides with a pendant of amide group.…”

Statistical copolymers of N‐vinylpyrrolidone and 2‐(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate via RAFT: Monomer reactivity ratios, thermal properties, and kinetics of thermal decomposition

“…It does not demand rigorous experimental conditions, it can be performed even in aqueous solutions, and it can be successfully applied to a large variety of monomers including functional vinylic monomers, without protection of functional groups. In addition, with appropriate selection of reagents and reaction conditions, RAFT can provide polymers with controlled molecular weight, narrow molecular weight distribution, and various macromolecular architectures …”