Star Block Copolymers Through Nitroxide-Mediated Radical Polymerization From Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane (POSS) Core

Abstract

A series of star block copolymers were prepared through nitroxide-mediated radical polymerization (NMRP) from polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) nanoparticle by core-first polymerization. Eight N-alkoxyamine groups were incorporated onto the eight corners of a POSS cube through quantitative hydrosilylation through addition of octakis(dimethylsiloxy)silsesquioxane (O(8)M(8)(H) POSS) with 1-(2-(allyloxy)-1-phenylethoxy)-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidine (allyl-TEMPO) and Karstedt's agent (a platinum divinylsiloxane complex) was used as a catalyst. Octa-N-alkoxyamines POSS (OT-POSS) were used as platform to synthesize star polystyrene-POSS ((PS)(8)-POSS) homopolymer and diblock copolymers of poly(styrene-block-4-vinyl-pyridine)-POSS ((PS-b-P4VP)(8)-POSS) and poly(styrene-block-acetoxystyrene) ((PS-b-PAS)(8)-POSS) through NMRP. In addition, subsequent selective hydrolysis of the acetyl protective group of (PS-b-PAS)(8)-POSS, the poly(styrene-block-vinyl phenol) ((PS-b-PVPh)(8)-POSS) with strong hydrogen bonding group was obtained. The detailed chemical structure and self-assembled structures of these star block copolymers based on POSS were characterized by (1)H NMR, FTIR, SEC, TEM, and SAXS analyses.