Combination of Cationic and Radical RAFT Polymerizations: A Versatile Route to Well-Defined Poly(ethyl vinyl ether)-blockpoly(vinylidenefluoride) Block Copolymers
Résumé
Poly(vinylidene fluoride)-containing block copolymersare difficult to prepare and still very rare in spite of theirpotential use in high added value applications. This communicationdescribes in detail the synthesis of unprecedented poly(ethyl vinylether)-block-poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PEVE-b-PVDF) block copolymers(BCP) via the sequential combination of cationic RAFTpolymerization of vinyl ethers and radical RAFT polymerization ofvinylidene fluoride (VDF). Dithiocarbamate chain transfer agentswere found to efficiently control the radical RAFT polymerizationof VDF and to be suitable for the preparation of PEVE-b-PVDFBCP. These new block copolymers composed of incompatiblepolymer segments may find applications owing to their phase segregation and self-assembly behavior.