Design of LCST-type phase separation of poly(4-hydroxystyrene)

Abstract

Commercially available poly(4-hydroxylstyrene) was introduced as a new LCST (lower critical solution temperature)-type thermo-responsive polymer at ambient temperature. The LCST-type phase separation was designed by control of the solvation and...

Thermal cleavage of hydrogen bond-induced LCST-type phase separation of PHEMA and related poly(hydroxyalkyl (meth)acrylate)s in mixed organic solvents

“…100 °C), PHEMA was soluble in DMSO, DMF, methanol, ethanol, and acetic acid, while being practically insoluble in acetonitrile, 2-butanone, 1-octanol, THF, ethyl acetate, toluene, DCE and cyclohexane. In comparison to PHS in our previous study, 70 PHEMA exhibits poor solubility in solvents with moderate polarity such as THF and acetonitrile. The relatively weak hydrogen bond acceptors could not solubilize the polymer chain due to the association of hydroxy groups between the polymer chains.…”

“…Additionally, we recently reported that poly(4-hydroxy styrene) ( PHS ), a commodity plastic, undergoes LCST-type phase separations in binary solvent mixtures of common hydrogen-bonding solvents and a non-polar solvent. 70 The phase separations are induced readily by heating, due to the dissociation of the polymer complexes as pseudo-desolvation. In particular, the thermal cleavage of the hydrogen bonds between a hydrogen-bonding functional group in the polymer chain and a hydrogen-bonding solvent plays a pivotal role in designing the desolvation of the polymer chain in the entropy-driven LCST-type phase separation.…”

Synthesis and self-assembly of the amphiphilic homopolymers poly(4-hydroxystyrene) and poly(4-(4-bromophenyloxy)styrene)

“…[26][27][28][29] Poly(4-hydroxystyrene) has already attracted attention for a variety of applications including photoresist materials, physical gel composites, and pH-responsive materials. [30][31][32] The direct polymerization of 4-hydroxystyrene by anionic polymerization is not viable due to the acidic nature of the hydroxyl group. Anionic polymerization provides the ability to produce narrow molecular weight distribution polymers with stoichiometric control over the molecular weight.…”