Grafting Poly(n-butyl acrylate) from a Functionalized Carbon Black Surface by Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

Abstract

The functionalization of a carbon black surface with atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) initiating sites and subsequent ATRP of n-butyl acrylate (n-BA) from the surface of carbon black is reported. The polymerizations were carried out using CuBr/N,N,N′,N′,N′′-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine and CuBr2/ 4,4′-di(5-nonyl)-2,2′-bipyridine as the catalytic system at 70 °C. A significant amount of polymers was attached to the carbon black as determined by thermogravimetric analysis and light scattering experiments. The molecular weights of the polymers grafted on carbon black were determined by detachment experiments and measured by gel permeation chromatography. The presence of dense poly(n-BA) brushes around carbon black aggregates was confirmed by atomic force microscopy. The resulting poly(n-BA)-bound carbon blacks formed stable dispersions in organic solvents for poly(n-BA).

Synthesis of Polymer Brushes Using Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

“…[33,122,123] The synthesis of carbon black grafted with pBA chains was conducted by surface-initiated ATRP from functional carbon black surfaces. [124] Analysis of pBA chains cleaved from the cores indicated that polymers with tunable molar mass and low polydispersity (M n ¼ 48 450; M w =M n ¼ 1.33) were obtained. AFM of pBA-coated carbon black particles cast onto mica (Figure 9) confirmed the efficient grafting of pBA onto the central core, with morphologies consistent with those observed for other pBA spherical brushes (see Figure 6).…”

Visible Light-Induced Metal Free Surface Initiated Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate on SBA-15

“…Surface-initiated polymerizations are the most frequently used methods to covalently connect polymer chains to the surface of a material, which are based on the so-called "grafting from" technique [9,10]. Significant advances in this area have been achieved by the development of living radical polymerization techniques, especially as nitroxide-mediated polymerization (NMP) [11,12], reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (RAFT) [13], and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) [14].…”

Preparation and Characterization of Temperature‐responsive Porous Monoliths

“…This linear relation between the PG and reaction time indicated that this polymerization had a good characteristic of controlled/living radical polymerization. 33 Therefore, the length of chains of the grafted polymers could be adjusted by controlling the polymerization time. Thus, the proposed method on the basis of the continuous flow-through technique could be proved to be successful in the application of surface-initiated AGET ATRP.…”