Studies on microgels. 5. Synthesis of microgels via living free radical polymerisation

Statistical and star microgels of t-butylstyrene-1,4-divinylbenzene (TBS-DVB) have been synthesized via living free radical polymerization using tetramethylpiperidin-1-oxyl (TEMPO) as a trapping agent. The alkoxyamines 1 and 2 were used as initiators to prepare statistical and star microgels, respectively. The molecular weight of the resulting microgels was determined by size exclusion chromatography with an on-line multi-angle laser light scattering (MALLS) instrument. It has been found that living free radical polymerization provides a much better control over the formation of statistical microgels than traditional free radical polymerization and can be used successfully for the synthesis of star microgels.