(643a) Synthetic Approaches for the Generation of Diverse Sets of Polar Polyolefin Block Copolymers

Properties of non-polar polyolefins are sought to be enhanced through the incorporation of polar monomers such as acrylics to improve interface interactions. However, commercially available polar polyolefins are typically random copolymers which have significant limitations because the statistical nature does not allow to expand the phase boundary between immiscible materials. In contrast, polyolefin-polar block copolymers with their segmented structure are suited to expand these phase boundaries. With the ability to form microdomains and nanostructures these structures will be valuable additives for advanced materials such as nanostructured plastics, vitrimers or in recycling applications. The lecture will present our current efforts to overcome multistep approaches and provide block copolymers in which the polyolefin can be varied in its microstructure and provide a broad range of functional acrylic blocks. With the discovered metal-organic insertion light initiated radical (MILRad) polymerization we have access to a one-step approach to generate polar polyolefin blocks in range of compositions depending on the type of Pd(II)diamine catalyst and acrylic monomer choice. Through the elucidation of the mechanistic workings of this new process using one single catalyst for insertion and radical generation, it is now possible to advance this technique. It will be the goal to demonstrate the feasibility of the technique to generate di-and triblock copolymers in different compositions and functional group content. Ongoing studies to use these polymers in selected applications will be discussed.