title: Droplet synthesis of well-defined block copolymers using solvent-resistant microfluidic device.
abstract: Well-defined diblock copolymers were synthesized via an exothermic RAFT route by a droplet microfluidic process using a solvent-resistant and thermally stable fluoropolymer microreactor fabricated by a non-lithographic embedded template method. The resulting polymers were compared to products obtained from continuous flow capillary reactor and conventional bulk synthesis. The droplet based microreactor demonstrated superior molecular weight distribution control by synthesizing a higher molecular weight product with higher conversion and narrow polydispersity in a much shorter reaction time. The high quality of the as-synthesized block copolymer PMMA-b-PS led to a generation of micelles with a narrow size distribution that could be used as a template for well-ordered mesoporous silica with regular frameworks and high surface areas.
authors.affiliation: National Creative Research Center of Applied Microfluidic Chemistry, Chungnam National University, 220 Kung Dong, Yuseong Gu, Daejeon 305-764, Korea.
authors.forename: Phan Huy
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Hoang
authors.forename: Chi Thanh
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Jayakumar
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Perumal
authors.forename: Dong-Pyo
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Kim