Synthesis of Polydimethylsiloxane-Containing Block Copolymers via Reversible Addition Fragmentation Chain Transfer (RAFT) Polymerization

摘要

Low polydispersity polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS) was end functionalized with a reversible additionfragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) agent by the esterifi-cation of hydroxyl terminated PDMS with a carboxylicacid functional RAFT agent. These PDMS-RAFT agentswere able to control the free radical polymerization of sty-rene and substituted styrene monomers to produce PDMS-containing block copolymers with low polydispersities andtargeted molecular weights. A thin film of polydimethylsi-loxane-block-polystyrene was prepared by spin coating andexhibited a microphase separated morphology from scan- ning force microscopy measurements. Controlled swellingof these films in solvent vapor produced morphologieswith significant long-range order. This synthetic route willallow the straightforward production of PDMS-containingblock copolymer libraries that will be useful for investigat-ing their thin film morphological behavior, which hasapplications in the templating of nanostructured materials.