• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.209-213
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• 2014

A graft copolymer of poly(vinyl chloride)-g-poly(oxyethylene methacrylate) (PVC-g-POEM) was synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and used as a structure-directing agent to prepare $Al@Fe_2O_3$ core-shell nanocomposites through a sol-gel process. The amphiphilic property of PVC-g-POEM allows for good dispersion of Al particles and leads to specific interaction with iron ethoxide, a precursor of $Fe_2O_3$. Secondary bonding interaction in the sol-gel composites was characterized by Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The well-organized morphology of $Al@Fe_2O_3$ core-shell nanocomposites was observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to analyze the elemental composition and crystallization structure of the composites.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.169-177
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• 2008

This paper reports a facile synthesis of new water-soluble poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based amphiphilic block copolymers showing pH sensitive phase transition behaviors. The copolymers were prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methacrylamide type of monomers carrying a sulfonamide group using a PEO-based macroinitiator and a Cu(I)Br/$Me_6TREN$ catalytic system in aqueous media. The resulting polymers were characterized by a combination of $^1H$-NMR, size exclusion chromatography, and UV/Visible spectrophotometeric analysis. The micellization of the block copolymers as a drug-loading mechanism in aqueous media using fluorescein salt was examined as a function of pH. The stable micelle formation and its loading efficacy suggest that the block copolymers can be used as precursors for drug-nanocontainers.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.9
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• pp.2694-2698
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• 2014

A multisegmented polystyrene (PS) with pH-cleavable ester and carbamate linkages was successfully synthesized by a combination of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and Cu(I)-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azide and alkynes (click chemistry). ATRP was employed to synthesize polystyrene from hydroxyl-terminated initiator using CuBr/N,N,N',N",N"-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA) as the catalyst. The reaction of the resulting PS with sodium azide yielded the azido-terminated polymer. The hydroxyl group in the other end of the polymer was reacted with 4-nitrophenyl chloroformate (NPC), followed by reaction with propargylamine to produce an alkyne end group with a carbamate linkage. The PS with an alkyne group in one end and an azide group in the other end was then self-coupled in the presence of CuBr/2,2'-bipyridyl (bpy) in DMF to yield a desired multisegmented PS. Molecular weight and molecular weight distribution of the self-coupled polymer increased with time, as in the typical step-growth-type polymerization processes. Finally, we demonstrated that the ester and carbamate linkages of the multisegmented PS were hydrolyzed in the presence of HCl to yield individual PS chains.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.541-546
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• 2007

The combination of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and click chemistry was employed for the efficient preparation of well-defined block copolymers. Bromo terminated poly(methyl acrylate) (pMA-Br) was prepared by an ATRP initiator, ethyl-2-bromoisobutyrate (EBiB). Subsequently, the bromine chain end of pMA-Br was converted to an azide group by simple nucleophilic substitution reaction. ${\alpha}-Alkyn-{\omega}-bromo-functionalized$ polystyrene was also synthesized by ATRP using the alkyn-functionalized initiator, propargyl-2-bromoisobutyrate (PgBiB). In both cases, the conversion was limited to a low level to ensure a high degree of chain end functionality. Then the coupling reaction between the azide end group in $pMA-N_3$ and alkyn-functionalized PgBiB-pSt was performed by Cu(I)catalysis. This coupling reaction was monitored by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The synthesized block copolymer was characterized by FT-IR, $^1H-NMR$ spectroscopy and $^1H-^1H$ COSY correlation spectroscopy.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2010

A graft copolymer, i.e. poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-chlorotrifluoroethylene )-g-poly(styrene sulfonic acid) (P(VDF-co-CTFE)-g-PSSA) with 47 wt% of PSSA was synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). This copolymer was combined with titanium isopropoxide (TTIP) to produce graft copolymer/$TiO_2$ nanocomposite membranes via sol-gel process. $TiO_2$ precursor (TTIP) was selectively incorporated into the hydrophilic PSSA domains of the graft copolymer and grown to form $TiO_2$ nanoparticles, as confirmed by FT-IR and UV-visible spectroscopy. Water uptake and ion exchange capacity (IEC) decreased with TTIP contents due to the decrease in number of sulfonic acid in the membranes. At 5 wt% of TTIP, the mechanical properties of membranes increased while maintaining the proton conductivity.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.89-95
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• 2009

A comb-like copolymer consisting of a poly(vinyl chloride) backbone and poly(hydroxy ethyl acrylate) side chains, i.e. PVC-g-PHEA, was synthesized through atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). This comb-like copolymer was crosslinked with 4,5-imidazole dicarboxylic acid (IDA) via the esterification of the -OH groups of PHEA in the graft copolymer and the -COOH groups of IDA. Upon doping with phosphoric acid (PA, $H_3PO_4$) to form imidazole-PA complexes, the proton conductivity of the membranes continuously increased with increasing PA content. A maximum proton conductivity of 0.011 S/cm was achieved at $100^{\circ}C$ under anhydrous conditions. The PVC-g-PHEA/IDA/PA complex membranes exhibited good mechanical properties, i.e. 575 MPa of Young's modulus, as determined by a universal testing machine (UTM). Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) shows that the membranes were thermally stable up to $200^{\circ}C$.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.501-504
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• 2014

A thermoresponsive polymer, poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA), was successfully synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Different amounts of 1,3-propanesultone were used as quaternization agent to transit the PDMAEMA into partially modified poly(zwitterions), resulting in p[DMAEMA-co-3-dimethyl(methacryloyloxyethyl)ammonium propanesulfonate] (PDMAEMA-co-PDMAPS). Molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, and degree of quarternization were determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The transmission spectra of the 1.0 wt % aqueous solutions of the resulting polymers at 650 nm were measured as a function of temperature. Results showed that the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) and the upper critical solution temperature (UCST) could be easily controlled by the different composition of dimethylamino and zwitterion groups. The effect of partial quaternization on thermoresponsive properties was also studied by dynamic light scattering (DLS) with the same aqueous concentration (1.0 wt %) as employed for turbidimetry studies. The LCST and UCST values measured by DLS correlated well with those determined by turbidimetry.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.226-226
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• 2006

Ethylene was polymerized with a catalyst having sterically hindered pentamethylcyclopentadienyl ligand, $Cp^{\ast}_{2}ZrCl_{2}/MAO$, and the polymerization mixture were treated with dry oxygen (oxidative workup) to produce hydroxyl-terminated polyethylenes (PE-OH). Polyethylene-block-Poly (${\Box}-caprolactone$) was synthesized from PE-OH and ${\cdot}\^{A}-caprolactone$A by using stannous octoate as a catalyst for ring opening polymerization of ${\cdot}\^{A}-caprolactone$. Polyethylene-block-Poly(methyl methacrylate) was obtained by transforming the hydroxyl-terminated polyethylenes to macroinitiators for atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and by reacting them with MMA.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.671-675
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• 2014

Well-defined star shaped and linear block copolymers were synthesized to study the dispersion stability of copper phthalocyanine (CuPc). We synthesized dispersants using (2-dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) (PEGMA) by activators generated by electron transfer (AGET) atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). pDMAEMA-b-pPEGMA copolymers were characterized by GPC and NMR. Furthermore, we studied the effect of the dispersion stability of copper phthalocyanine by controlling the degree of polymerization of PEGMA as a stabilizing group. The 4-arm star shaped polymeric dispersant showed better dispersion stability of CuPc at $25^{\circ}C$ for 7 days.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.926-930
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• 2009

A new method for encapsulating nanomaterials within intermediary layer cross-linked (ILCL) polymeric micelles using a bifunctional photo-cross-linking agent was developed. For ILCL polymeric micelles, an amphiphilic triblock copolymer of poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-b-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PEG-PHEMA-PMMA) was synthesized via consecutive atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), Di(4-hydroxyl benzophenone) dodecanedioate (BPD) was used as a bifunctional photo-cross-linking agent. The PMMA-tethered Au nanoparticles and BPD, or pyrene and BPD were encapsulated in the PEG-PHEMA-PMMA micelles, and their intermediary layers were photo-cross-linked by UV irradiation for 1 h. The HEMA units donated labile hydrogens to the excited-state benzophenone groups in BPD, and they were subsequently cross-linked by BPD through radical-radical combination. The spherical structures of the PEG-PHEMA-PMMA micelles containing the Au nanoparticles or pyrene were unaffected by the photo-cross-linking process.