The advances in the synthesis of sequence controlled copolymers (containing two or more monomers) have opened up a new perspective for building materials, where the properties and functionalities can be controlled on demand and cannot be achieved through homopolymerization. Within this framework, gradient copolymers may be considered to be an intermediate species between block and random copolymers whereas the comonomer composition varies continuously as a function of chain length. Gradient copolymers have shown interesting properties and applications, for instance, in shock- and noise-absorbing materials and interfacial stabilizers as compared to block copolymers. Nevertheless, the preparation of copolymers with a well-defined gradient monomer composition requires demanding synthetic procedures, including complex semi-continuous monomer feeding processes, which require constant feedback to manipulate the copolymer composition at each stage of polymerization. In this contribution, we explore, via high-throughput experimentation, facile and better-understood batch polymerization strategies to fabricate polymers with structural features of gradient copolymers. The preparation of extensive libraries of gradient copolymers with different structures and the properties of this novel class materials are investigated.

Synthesis and characterization of novel gradient copolymers by a high-throughput approach

256th National Meeting (2018)

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