2012•Chemistry - A European JournalRequires access
Controlled Bimodal Molecular‐Weight‐Distribution Polymers: Facile Synthesis by RAFT Polymerization
Jian Qin, Lifen Zhang, Hongjuan Jiang, Jian Zhu, Zhengbiao Zhang, Wei Zhang, Nianchen Zhou, Zhenping Cheng, Xiulin Zhu
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Abstract
The RAFT agents RAFT-1 and RAFT-2 were used for RAFT polymerization to synthesize well-defined bimodal molecular-weight-distribution (MWD) polymers. The system showed excellent controllability and "living" characteristics toward both the higher- and lower-molecular-weight fractions. It is important that bimodal higher-molecular-weight (HMW) polymers and block copolymers with both well-controlled molecular weight (MW) and MWD could be prepared easily due to the "living" features of RAFT polymerization. The strategy realized a mixture of higher/lower-molecular-weight polymers at the molecular level but also preserved the features of living radical polymerization (LRP) of the RAFT polymerization.