Poly(ethyl oxide)-block-polystyrene (PEO-PSt) block copolymers were prepared by radical polymerization of styrene in the presence of iodoacetate-terminated PEO (PEO-I) as a macromolecular chain-transfer agent. PEO-I was synthesized by successively converting the OH end-group of α-methoxy ω-hydroxy PEO to chloroacetate and then to the iodoacetate. The chain-transfer constant of PEO-I was estimated from the rate of consumption of the transfer agent versus the rate of consumption of the monomer (Ctr,PEO-I = 0.23). Due to the involvement of degenerative transfer, styrene polymerization in the presence of PEO-I displayed some of the characteristics of a controlled/'living' process, namely an increase in the molecular weight and decrease of polydispersity with monomer conversion. However, because of the slow consumption of PEO-I due to its low chain-transfer constant, this process was not a fully controlled one, as indicated by the polydispersity being higher than in a controlled polymerization process (1.65 versus <1.5). The formation of PEO-PSt block copolymers was confirmed by the use of size-exclusion chromatography and 1H NMR spectroscopy. © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry.
CITATION STYLE
Teodorescu, M., Dimonie, M., Draghici, C., & Vasilievici, G. (2004). Poly(ethylene oxide)-block-polystyrene copolymers obtained by radical polymerization involving chain-transfer processes. Polymer International, 53(12), 1987–1993. https://doi.org/10.1002/pi.1610
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