Investigation of the microrheological properties of the branched polystyrene using 2-(2-bromoisobutyryloxy) ethyl methacrylate as the inimer

ABSTRACT

A novel functional inimer 2-(2-bromoisobutyryloxy)ethyl methacrylate(BiBEM) both with the double bond and bromide was designed and synthesised. The branched polystyrene (PS) was prepared by the atom transfer radical polymerisation (ATRP), using BiBEM as inimer (initator) and CuBr complexed with bipyridine as catalysts in toluene at 80°C. The molecular weight and the branching degree of the polystyrene were analysed by using triple detection size-exclusion chromatography (TD-SEC) and the storage modulus in a wide and high-frequency range of polystyrene microrheological properties were studied by the diffusive wave spectroscopy (DWS). By adjusting the ratio of inimer to catalysts, a series of branched polystyrene polymers with different molecular weight and branching degree were obtained. The increase of the BiBEM concentration led to a higher degree of branching, while higher molecular weight and broader molecular weight distribution are accompanied. The branched polystyrene showed low storage modulus and lower chain entanglement compared to linear analogues.

KEYWORDS:

• Microrheological properties
• branched polystyrene
• inimer

Acknowledgments

The National Natural Science Foundation of China (21504009), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (15KJB150002), a Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions and the Program of Innovative Research Team of Changzhou University (ZMF19020310), Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program Project of Jiangsu Province (No. KYCX21_2806) and the Youth Foundation of Jiang Province (BK20190932) supported this work and all the above support is gratefully acknowledged.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program Project of Jiangsu Province (No. KYCX21_2806); the Youth Foundation of Jiang Province (BK20190932).;