Synthesis and characterization of poly[poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate]-graft-poly(2-vinylpyridine) comb-type graft copolymer using the "grafting through" by free radical polymerization and atom transfer radical polymerization

Synthesis of poly[poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate]-graft-poly(2-vinylpyridine) (PPEGMA-g-P2VP) comb-type graft copolymer was carried out using the ATRP-macromonomeric initiator and 2-vinylpyridine (2VP) monomer by applying atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) via "grafting through" strategy. For this purpose, poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate bromide (PEGMABr) macromonomer was synthesized by the reaction of poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate with Mn = 360 g.mol−1 and 3-bromopropionyl chloride. PEGMABr was homopolymerized in the presence of 2,2'-azobisisobutyronitrile by free radical polymerization (FRP) technique to obtain the ATRP-macromonomeric initiator (ATRP-MMI). PPEGMA-g-P2VP comb-type graft copolymer was obtained by ATRP method via "grafting through" of ATRP-MMI and 2VP monomer. The effect of the monomer concentration on dispersity and molecular weight was also investigated. The characterization of the products was accomplished by using multi-instruments such as 1H-NMR, FTIR, TGA, SEM, and GPC. The spectroscopic and thermal analyses of the graft copolymer reveal that the copolymer was easily built through a combination of FRP and ATRP techniques.