Synthesis and characterization of amphiphilic and microphase‐separated graft copolymers, 1. Synthesis and bulk characterization of polystyrene‐<i>graft</i>‐ω‐stearyl‐poly(ethylene oxide)

Abstract

Abstract Using the rigid and hydrophobic polystyrene (PS) chain as backbone, onto which flexible and hydrophilic stearyl‐poly(ethylene oxide) (SPEO) chains are grafted, a new kind of amphiphilic, microphase‐separated graft copolymer was synthesized using the macromonomer technique. Stearyl‐poly(ethylene oxide) macromonomers with acryloyl end‐group (SPEO‐A) were prepared through an end‐group exchange reaction of α‐stearyl‐ω‐hydroxypoly(ethylene oxide) (SPEO‐OH) and acryloyl chloride in the presence of triethylamine. The radical copolymerization of styrene with SPEO‐A was carried out under various experimental conditions. Following a careful examination of their purity, the structure of the prepared copolymers was characterized by means of IR, 1 H NMR and GPC analyses. A new feasible method using first derivative UV spectrometry was developed for quantitative determination of the bulk composition of the graft copolymers. Copolymers with a wide range of bulk composition and satisfactory grafting degree were obtained.