Efficient synthesis of a rod-coil conjugated graft copolymer by combination of thiol-maleimide chemistry and MOF-catalyzed photopolymerization

Publication date: Available online 8 April 2019Source: European Polymer JournalAuthor(s): Hoan Minh Tran, Le-Thu T. Nguyen, Tam Huu Nguyen, Ha Lac Nguyen, Nam T.S. Phan, Geng Zhang, Tsutomu Yokozawa, Hai Le Tran, Phong Thanh Mai, Ha Tran NguyenAbstractWhile several strategies have been developed in the literature to obtain rod-coil graft copolymers composed of regioregular poly(3-hexyl thiophene) (P3HT), our contribution in this field consists of a convenient and versatile way to obtain a copolymer with a coil polymethacrylate backbone grafted with P3HT rod chains by a combination of the thiol-maleimide chemistry and MOF-catalyzed photoinitiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) method. Well-defined synthesis of the P3HT-graft copolymer was described, and its structure, morphology and properties were characterized by proton nuclear magnetic resonance, gel permeation chromatography, Fourier transform infrared, UV–vis and photoluminescence spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and atomic force microscopy.Graphical abstract

Source: European Polymer Journal - April 9, 2019 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research