Study on Synthesis of Star‐Shaped Poly(ethylene oxide) by Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

Star‐shaped poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) was prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) with a 2‐bromoisobutyryl PEO ester as a macroinitiator. Divinylbenzene (DVB) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate were employed as the coupling reagents. Several factors pertinent to star polymer formation are: type of coupling reagents and solvents, feed ratio of DVB to the macroinitiator, and reaction time. These were studied and used to optimize the star formation process. The optimum yield of star polymer was ca. 90–98%.

Keywords:

• star polymer
• synthesis
• atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP)
• poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (20374042), the Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation (04JJ3044), the Key Project of Young Teachers Scientific Research Funds of Hunan Provincial Education Department (02B007) and Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (SRFDP 20040530002).