A Theoretical Exploration of the Potential of ICAR ATRP for One- and Two-Pot Synthesis of Well-Defined Diblock Copolymers

摘要

Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations are performed to investigate the capability of ICAR ATRP for the synthesis of well-defined poly(isobornyl acrylate-b-styrene) block(-like) copolymers using one-pot semi-batch and two-pot batch procedures. The block copolymer quality is quantified via a block deviation (BD) value. For BD values lower than 0.30, the quality is defined as good and for well-chosen polymerization conditions the formation of homopolymer chains upon addition of the second monomer can be suppressed. A better block quality is obtained when isobornyl acrylate is polymerized first. For lower Cu levels a one-pot semi-batch procedure allows a much faster ATRP and better control over the polymer properties than a two-pot batch procedure.