Delafresnaye Laura, Feist Florian, Hooker Jordan P, Barner-Kowollik Christopher
School of Chemistry and Physics, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George St, Brisbane, 4000, QLD, Australia.
Centre for Materials Science, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George St, Brisbane, 4000, QLD, Australia.
Nat Commun. 2022 Sep 1;13(1):5132. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-32429-3.
Driven by the demand for highly specialized polymeric materials via milder, safer, and sustainable processes, we herein introduce a powerful, purely light driven platform for microsphere synthesis - including facile synthesis by sunlight. Our light-induced step-growth precipitation polymerization produces monodisperse particles (0.4-2.4 μm) at ambient temperature without any initiator, surfactant, additive or heating, constituting an unconventional approach compared to the classically thermally driven synthesis of particles. The microspheres are formed via the Diels-Alder cycloaddition of a photoactive monomer (2-methylisophthaldialdehyde, MIA) and a suitable electron deficient dienophile (bismaleimide). The particles are stable in the dry state as well as in solution and their surface can be further functionalized to produce fluorescent particles or alter their hydrophilicity. The simplicity and versatility of our approach introduces a fresh opportunity for particle synthesis, opening access to a yet unknown material class.
受通过更温和、更安全和可持续的工艺对高度专业化聚合物材料的需求驱动，我们在此引入了一个强大的、纯光驱动的微球合成平台——包括通过阳光进行简便合成。我们的光诱导逐步增长沉淀聚合在环境温度下无需任何引发剂、表面活性剂、添加剂或加热即可产生单分散颗粒（0.4 - 2.4μm），与传统的热驱动颗粒合成相比，这构成了一种非常规方法。微球通过光活性单体（2 - 甲基间苯二甲醛，MIA）与合适的缺电子亲双烯体（双马来酰亚胺）的狄尔斯 - 阿尔德环加成反应形成。这些颗粒在干燥状态以及溶液中都很稳定，并且它们的表面可以进一步功能化以产生荧光颗粒或改变其亲水性。我们方法的简单性和多功能性为颗粒合成带来了新的机会，开启了通向一类未知材料的大门。
