Styrenic block copolymers (BCPs) commonly are employed as commercial thermoplastic elastomers, pressure-sensitive adhesives, and blend compatibilizers. However, styrene is a nonrenewable, carcinogenic, and volatile organic compound, so developing green and inexpensive alternatives to styrene is desirable. Pyrolysis of lignin, a renewable waste stream from pulp and paper manufacturing, yields a suite of phenolic lignin model compounds (LMCs), which are attractive alternatives to styrene due to their abundance, relatively low toxicity, and aromaticity. We have taken LMCs, such as vanillin, and incorporated their methacrylate derivatives into controlled reversible addition�fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerizations for BCP syntheses. The polymers containing vanillin methacrylate units have an aldehyde functionality that offers a unique handle for post-polymerization property adjustment. This work highlights both the facile method toward BCP syntheses from LMCs and select property manipulations enabled by vanillin's aldehyde. Eventually, this work will segue into the de novo design and generation of libraries of renewable polymers with on-demand properties.

Designing block copolymers from lignin model compounds

248th National Meeting (2014)

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