RAFT-Mediated Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly of Poly(Acrylic Acid)-b-Poly(Hexafluorobutyl Acrylate): Effect of the pH on the Synthesis of Self-Stabilized Particles

This paper describes a very simple strategy towards self-stabilized poly(acrylic acid)-block-poly(hexafluorobutyl acrylate) (PAA-b-PHFBA) block copolymer particles via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT)-mediated polymerization-induced self-assembly. Hexafluorobutyl acrylate (HFBA) monomer conversion and number-average molar mass of PAA-b-PHFBA increased gradually with the increase in the pH value of the aqueous phase. When pH < 10, the molecular weight distributions of PAA-b-PHFBA were narrow, however, when the pH was raised to 11.55, PAA-b-PHFBA block copolymers had a broader distribution (Đ(M) = 1.82) with a serious trailing toward the low molecular weight. Furthermore, the morphology and size of PAA-b-PHFBA latex particles were measured by transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering. The results indicated that the PAA-b-PHFBA latex particles had a clear spherical core-shell structure and the latex particles’ size increased with the increase of pH value.