Copolymer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Co-polymer) IUPAC definition for copolymer A polymer derived

from more than one species of monomer !ote" Copolymers that are o#tained #y copolymeri$ation of t%o monomer species are sometimes termed #ipolymers, those o#tained from three monomers terpolymers, those o#tained from fo&r monomers '&aterpolymers, etc ()* Alternatin+ copolymers" A copolymer consistin+ of macromolec&les comprisin+ t%o species of monomeric &nits in alternatin+ se'&ence !ote" An alternatin+ copolymer may #e considered as a homopolymer derived from an implicit or hypothetical monomer ()* ,lock copolymers" A portion of a macromolec&le, comprisin+ many constit&tional &nits, that has at least one feat&re %hich is not present in the ad-acent portions ()* .raft macromolec&le" A macromolec&le %ith one or more species of #lock connected to the main chain as side-chains, these side-chains havin+ constit&tional or confi+&rational feat&res that differ from those in the main chain (/* 0inyl Copolymer 1ilk A heteropolymer or copolymer is a polymer derived from t%o (or more) monomeric species, as opposed to a homopolymer %here only one monomer is &sed (2* Copolymeri$ation refers to methods &sed to chemically synthesi$e a copolymer Commercially relevant copolymers incl&de A,3 plastic, 3,R, !itrile r&##er, styrene-acrylonitrile, styrene-isoprene-styrene (3I3) and ethylene-vinyl acetate Contents ) 4ypes of copolymers ) ) .raft copolymers ) / ,lock copolymers ) / ) Phase separation / Copolymer e'&ation 2 Copolymer en+ineerin+ 5 3ee also 6 References 7 89ternal links 4ypes of copolymers :ifferent types of copolymers 3ince a copolymer consists of at least t%o types of constit&ent &nits (also str&ct&ral &nits), copolymers can #e classified #ased on ho% these &nits are arran+ed alon+ the chain (5* 4hese incl&de" Alternatin+ copolymers %ith re+&lar alternatin+ A and , &nits (/) Periodic copolymers %ith A and , &nits arran+ed in a repeatin+ se'&ence (e + (A-,-A-,-,-A-

A-A-A-,-,-,)n) 3tatistical copolymers are copolymers in %hich the se'&ence of monomer resid&es follo%s a statistical r&le If the pro#a#ility of findin+ a +iven type monomer resid&e at a partic&lar point in the chain is e'&al to the mole fraction of that monomer resid&e in the chain, then the polymer may #e referred to as a tr&ly random copolymer(6* (2) ,lock copolymers comprise t%o or more homopolymer s&#&nits linked #y covalent #onds (5) 4he &nion of the homopolymer s&#&nits may re'&ire an intermediate non-repeatin+ s&#&nit, kno%n as a -&nction #lock ,lock copolymers %ith t%o or three distinct #locks are called di#lock copolymers and tri#lock copolymers, respectively Copolymers may also #e descri#ed in terms of the e9istence of or arran+ement of #ranches in the polymer str&ct&re ;inear copolymers consist of a sin+le main chain %hereas #ranched copolymers consist of a sin+le main chain %ith one or more polymeric side chains <ther special types of #ranched copolymers incl&de star copolymers, #r&sh copolymers, and com# copolymers In +radient copolymers the monomer composition chan+es +rad&ally alon+ the chain A terpolymer is a copolymer consistin+ of three distinct monomers 4he term is derived from ter (;atin), meanin+ thrice, and polymer 3tereo#lock copolymers 3tereo#l pn+ A special str&ct&re can #e formed from one monomer %here no% the distin+&ishin+ feat&re is the tacticity of each #lock .raft copolymers .raft copolymers are a special type of #ranched copolymer in %hich the side chains are str&ct&rally distinct from the main chain 4he ill&stration (6) depicts a special case %here the main chain and side chains are composed of distinct homopolymers =o%ever, the individ&al chains of a +raft copolymer may #e homopolymers or copolymers !ote that different copolymer se'&encin+ is s&fficient to define a str&ct&ral difference, th&s an A-, di#lock copolymer %ith A-, alternatin+ copolymer side chains is properly called a +raft copolymer For e9ample, s&ppose %e perform a free-radical polymeri$ation of styrene in the presence of poly#&tadiene, a synthetic r&##er, %hich retains one reactive C>C do&#le #ond per resid&e We +et polystyrene chains +ro%in+ o&t in either direction from some of the places %here there %ere do&#le #onds, %ith a one-car#on rearran+ement <r to look at it the other %ay aro&nd, the res&lt is a polystyrene #ack#one %ith poly#&tadiene chains +ro%in+ o&t of it in #oth directions 4his is an interestin+ copolymer variant in that one of the in+redients %as a polymer to #e+in %ith As %ith #lock copolymers, the '&asi-composite prod&ct has properties of #oth ?components? In the e9ample cited, the r&##ery chains a#sor# ener+y %hen the s&#stance is hit, so it is m&ch less #rittle than ordinary polystyrene 4he prod&ct is called hi+h-impact polystyrene, or =IP3 ,lock copolymers A special kind of copolymer is called a ?#lock copolymer? ,lock copolymers are made &p of #locks of different polymeri$ed monomers (7* For e9ample, P3-#-P11A is short for polystyrene#-poly(methyl methacrylate) and is &s&ally made #y first polymeri$in+ styrene, and then s&#se'&ently polymeri$in+ 11A from the reactive end of the polystyrene chains 4his polymer is a ?di#lock copolymer? #eca&se it contains t%o different chemical #locks 4ri#locks, tetra#locks, m&lti#locks, etc can also #e made :i#lock copolymers are made &sin+ livin+ polymeri$ation

techni'&es, s&ch as atom transfer free radical polymeri$ation (A4RP), reversi#le addition fra+mentation chain transfer (RAF4), rin+-openin+ metathesis polymeri$ation (R<1P), and livin+ cationic or livin+ anionic polymeri$ations (@* An emer+in+ techni'&e is chain sh&ttlin+ polymeri$ation 4he most po%erf&l strate+y to prepare #lock copolymers is the chemoselective step%ise co&plin+ #et%een polymeric prec&rsors and heterof&nctional linkin+ a+ents (A* 4his method ena#les access to pec&liarly e9otic str&ct&res s&ch as tetra#lock '&aterpolymers A,C: (B* Recent research in #lock copolymers s&++ests that they may #e &sef&l in creatin+ selfconstr&ctin+ fa#rics %ith potential &tility in semicond&ctor arrays (for e9ample, comp&ter memory devices) #y assem#lin+ fine details atop a str&ct&red #ase created &sin+ conventional microlitho+raphy methods ()C* Phase separation 3,3 #lock copolymer in 481 ,lock copolymers are interestin+ #eca&se they can ?microphase separate? to form periodic nanostr&ct&res, as in the styrene-#&tadiene-styrene #lock copolymer sho%n at ri+ht 4he polymer is kno%n as Draton and is &sed for shoe soles and adhesives <%in+ to the microfine str&ct&re, the transmission electron microscope or 481 %as needed to e9amine the str&ct&re 4he #&tadiene matri9 %as stained %ith osmi&m tetro9ide to provide contrast in the ima+e 4he material %as made #y livin+ polymeri$ation so that the #locks are almost monodisperse, so helpin+ to create a very re+&lar microstr&ct&re 4he molec&lar %ei+ht of the polystyrene #locks in the main pict&re is )C/,CCCE the inset pict&re has a molec&lar %ei+ht of B),CCC, prod&cin+ sli+htly smaller domains 3,3 #lock copolymer schematic microstr&ct&re 1icrophase separation is a sit&ation similar to that of oil and %ater <il and %ater are immisci#le they phase separate :&e to incompati#ility #et%een the #locks, #lock copolymers &nder+o a similar phase separation ,eca&se the #locks are covalently #onded to each other, they cannot demi9 macroscopically as %ater and oil In ?microphase separation? the #locks form nanometersi$ed str&ct&res :ependin+ on the relative len+ths of each #lock, several morpholo+ies can #e o#tained In di#lock copolymers, s&fficiently different #lock len+ths lead to nanometer-si$ed spheres of one #lock in a matri9 of the second (for e9ample P11A in polystyrene) Usin+ less different #lock len+ths, a ?he9a+onally packed cylinder? +eometry can #e o#tained ,locks of similar len+th form layers (often called lamellae in the technical literat&re) ,et%een the cylindrical and lamellar phase is the +yroid phase 4he nanoscale str&ct&res created from #lock copolymers co&ld potentially #e &sed for creatin+ devices for &se in comp&ter memory, nanoscale-templatin+ and nanoscale separations ())* Polymer scientists &se thermodynamics to descri#e ho% the different #locks interact 4he prod&ct of the de+ree of polymeri$ation, n, and the Flory-=&++ins interaction parameter, Fchi , +ives an indication of ho% incompati#le the t%o #locks are and %hether or not they %ill microphase separate For e9ample, a di#lock copolymer of symmetric composition %ill microphase separate if the prod&ct Fchi ! is +reater than )C 6 If Fchi ! is less than )C 6, the #locks %ill mi9 and microphase separation is not o#served 4he incompati#ility #et%een the #locks also affects the sol&tion #ehavior of these copolymers and their adsorption #ehavior on vario&s s&rfaces ()/*