Synthesis of Well Defined Sulfonated Block Copolymers by Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

Well difined sulfonated styrene and n-butyl acrylate (nBA) block copolymers were synthesized by CuBr catalyzed living radical polymerization followed by acification by thermolysis. Neopentyl styrene sulfonate (NSS) was polymerized with PnBA macroinitator precursor ($M_{n}=19,500,\;PDI\;<\;1.09$) and CuBr catalyst with N,N,N',N' -pentamethylethyleneamine (PMDETA) to give nBA-NSS block copolymer with narrow polydispersity ($M_{n}=29,900,\;PDI\;<\;1.15$). PNSS segments in the block copolymer were then acidified by thermolysis at $150^{\circ}C$ resulting in polystyrene segments with 100 % sulfonic acid groups.