Synthesis of Carbon nanotube Macroinitiator of Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization by Esterification Reaction

Abstract

During atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) a halogen terminated initiator is necessary for the initiation of the polymerization and subsequent formation of the polymer chain in the propagation step. However, with the exception of in situ generation there was very limited or no studies on the carbon nanotube based macro -initiators for ATRP. Bromine terminated macro -initiator was synthesized by esterification reaction of hydroxyl group modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes and 2 -bromoisobutyryl bromide. Characterization on the synthesized macro-initiator was performed by Fourier transform Infrared, X-ray photoelectron spectrometer, and 13C-solid NMR spectroscopy. From the results, the 1735 cm-1 (C=O ester linkage), 788 cm-1 (C-Br), 177 ppm (ester linkage), biding peaks at 288.40 eV and 531 eV are all due to bromine terminated initiator. These exhibited a successful synthesis of the bromine terminated ATRP initiator.