Grafting poly(t-butyl acrylate) to poly(allylamine) by inverse microemulsion radical polymerization: From comb-polymer to amphiphilic shell crosslinked polymer nanocapsule

An interfacial grafting radical polymerization method for amphiphilic comb copolymer and shell crosslinked polymer nanocapsules was reported. Macropolyradicals on a water soluble long chain polyamine were generated with hydrogen peroxide in the water phase and subsequent grafting radical polymerization of a vinylic monomer at the water/oil interface proceeded at 65°C. In the presence of a crosslinker, the resulting graft copolymer formed a defined core-shell structure with hydrophilic aqueous core functionalized by the polyamine and a Hydrophobie crosslinked polymer shell. The structure of the core-shell material was characterized by NMR, FTIR, DSC, TGA, SEM, TEM, and the mechanism of the graft polymerization is proposed.