Study on stimuli-sensitive copolymers: Synthesis and characterization.

摘要

This study focuses on understanding the fundamental processes occurring at the microscopic scale in macromolecular systems and correlations with macroscopic behavior, allowing control over the material properties. In this context, online reaction monitoring is an ideal tool to gain an in-depth understanding of the reaction kinetics; it enables the design of novel approaches in following the synthesis of stimuli-sensitive macromolecules and provides insight into the material behavior as response to external factors.;A study on reaction kinetics during the synthesis of stimuli-sensitive copolymers and on their properties and behavior under different conditions is presented. A novel feature of the online monitoring platform, Automatic Continuous Online Monitoring of Polymerization reactions (ACOMP) is developed allowing a simultaneous characterization of the amphiphilic copolymers in both organic and aqueous media. Reaction control is achieved either by chemistry means, using Reversible Addition Fragmentation Chain Transfer Polymerization (RAFT) mechanism or by chemical engineering, under different monomer addition schemes through semi-batch method via free radical polymerization.;Copolymers properties in terms of conformation, chain stiffness, electrostatic and hydrodynamic parameters change under the effect of external factors (pH, ionic strength, solvent type) are studied by a combination of other techniques, using the knowledge from online monitoring of the polymerization reactions.