Advanced Nanomaterials from Functional Cyclic Polymers

摘要

The primary objective of this research program is to explore new possibilities for functional cyclic polymers in materials science. The exploration of new materials based upon cyclic polymer architectures has been stifled due to a general inability to produce cyclic polymers of high purity and controlled molecular weight on a large scale. During the funding period, we have significantly improved the synthetic capabilities toward cyclic polymers by developing catalyst and macromonomers amenable to direct formation of ultrahigh molecular weight cyclic brush polymers. Additionally, to expand the scope of potential applications, we have prepared amphiphilic cyclic polymers in which each repeat unit bears complementary hydrophobic and hydrophilic side chains.