Synthesis of pH-Responsive Block Copolymer By ATRP

Abstract

Abstract The block copolymer, poly(4-vinylpyridine)-b-poly(tert-butylmethacrylate) (P4VP-b-PtBMA), was synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) in two steps. Firstly, macroinitiator P4VP-Cl was prepared via ATRP with the conversion of monomer 66.3%. The result of GPC illustrated that the Mn of P4VP-Cl could be controlled by adjusting polymerization conditions. Then, P4VP-b-PtBMA was synthesized by ATRP using P4VP-Cl as macroinitiator. The effects of polymerization reaction parameters such as solvent and polymerization time on the M n and M W/M n were investigated. Then the pH-responsive block copolymer poly(4- vinylpyridine)-b-poly(methacrylic acid) (P4VP-b-PMAA) was obtained by hydrolyzing the P4VP-b-PtBMa copolymer.