Issue 20, 2014

Modification of cellulose model surfaces by cationic polymer latexes prepared by RAFT-mediated surfactant-free emulsion polymerization

Abstract

This paper presents the successful surface modification of a model cellulose substrate by the preparation and subsequent physical adsorption of cationic polymer latexes. The first part of the work introduces novel charged polymer nanoparticles constituted of amphiphilic block copolymers based on cationic poly(N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate-co-methacrylic acid) (P(DMAEMA-co-MAA)) as the hydrophilic segment, and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) as the hydrophobic segment. First, RAFT polymerization of N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) in water was performed at pH 7, below its pKa. The simultaneous hydrolysis of DMAEMA led to the formation of a statistical copolymer incorporating mainly protonated DMAEMA units and some deprotonated methacrylic acid units at pH 7. The following step was the RAFT-mediated surfactant-free emulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) using P(DMAEMA-co-MAA) as a hydrophilic macromolecular RAFT agent. During the synthesis, the formed amphiphilic block copolymers self-assembled into cationic latex nanoparticles by polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA). The nanoparticles were found to increase in size with increasing molar mass of the hydrophobic block. The cationic latexes were subsequently adsorbed to cellulose model surfaces in a quartz crystal microbalance equipment with dissipation (QCM-D). The adsorbed amount, in mg m−2, increased with increasing size of the nanoparticles. This approach allows for physical surface modification of cellulose, utilizing a water suspension of particles for which both the surface chemistry and the surface structure can be altered in a well-defined way.

Graphical abstract: Modification of cellulose model surfaces by cationic polymer latexes prepared by RAFT-mediated surfactant-free emulsion polymerization

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
14 May 2014
Accepted
29 Jun 2014
First published
30 Jun 2014
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Polym. Chem., 2014,5, 6076-6086

Modification of cellulose model surfaces by cationic polymer latexes prepared by RAFT-mediated surfactant-free emulsion polymerization

L. Carlsson, A. Fall, I. Chaduc, L. Wågberg, B. Charleux, E. Malmström, F. D'Agosto, M. Lansalot and A. Carlmark, Polym. Chem., 2014, 5, 6076 DOI: 10.1039/C4PY00675E

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.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements