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Data for: Versatile synthesis of siloxane-based graft copolymers with tunable grafting density

Data files

Sep 26, 2023 version files 117.68 MB

Abstract

A versatile synthetic platform is reported that affords high molecular weight graft copolymers containing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) backbones and vinyl-based side chains with excellent control over molecular weight and grafting density. The synthetic approach leverages thiol–ene click chemistry to attach an atom-transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) initiator to a variety of commercially available poly(dimethylsiloxane-co-methylvinylsiloxane) (PDMS-co-PVMS), followed by controlled radical polymerization with a wide scope of vinyl monomers. Selective degradation of the siloxane backbone with tetrabutylammonium fluoride confirmed the controlled nature of side-chain growth via radical polymerization, yielding targeted side-chain lengths for copolymers containing up to 50% grafting density and overall molecular weights in excess of 1 MDa. In addition, by using a mixture of thiols, grafting density and functionality can be further controlled by tuning initiator loading along the backbone. For example, solid-state fluorescence of the graft copolymers was achieved by incorporating a thiol-containing fluorophore along the siloxane backbone during the thiol–ene click reaction. This simple synthetic platform provides facile control over the properties of a wide variety of grafted copolymers containing flexible PDMS backbones and vinyl polymer side chains.