Issue 5, 2017, Issue in Progress

Study of structure–performance relationships of polymeric dispersants on particle dispersion and stabilisation

Abstract

A series of polymeric dispersants in three different structural types, namely AB diblock, ABA triblock and comb, were synthesised via reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerisation. They were systematically designed and optimised with varying molecular weights, compositions, anchoring and stabilising chain lengths, then investigated and compared over the dispersion performance of SiO2 particles in organic media. The comparisons indicated that the optimised AB diblock poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)30-b-poly(ethyl methacrylate)40 (PD30-b-PE40) and ABA triblock (PD30-b-PE60-b-PD30) dispersants enabled homogeneous SiO2 particle dispersion, which were more effective in reducing particle size and system viscosity than the comb dispersant poly((2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)30-co-(poly(propylene glycol) acrylate)15) (P(D30-co-PPGA15)). In particular, it was found that AB diblock copolymer dispersants are generally at least as effective as or better than their ABA triblock equivalents in particle dispersion and stabilisation. Thus, the dispersion effectiveness of the three structural types can be ordered as: AB ≥ ABA > comb. Furthermore, structure–performance relationships were developed between dispersants' molecular structures and dispersion performances, in order to provide constructive guidance for the structural design and selection of polymeric dispersants for effective particle dispersion and stabilisation in organic media for various applications.

Graphical abstract: Study of structure–performance relationships of polymeric dispersants on particle dispersion and stabilisation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
13 Oct 2016
Accepted
31 Oct 2016
First published
12 Jan 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2017,7, 2513-2519

Study of structure–performance relationships of polymeric dispersants on particle dispersion and stabilisation

T. Fang, M. Huo, Z. Wan, H. Chen, L. Peng, L. Liu and J. Yuan, RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 2513 DOI: 10.1039/C6RA25196J

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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