High Throughput Screening in the Synthesis of Highly Branched Polymers

Project Description

Highly branched polymers are attractive polymer architectures due to their unique properties when compared to linear analogues. Currently, most methods to construct highly branched architectures require pre-synthesis of multifunctional monomers, and monomer conversion is usually restricted to prevent gelation at high polymer concentrations. The Strathclyde method has been developed to generate highly branched soluble polymers through conventional polymerization using commercially available monomers and difunctional cross-linkers. The addition of defined amounts of chain-transfer agents relative to the cross-linkers can significantly suppress gelation even at nearly quantitative monomer conversion. Since the properties and the gelation thresholds are highly related to variables in the polymerization conditions, we proposed to use high throughput screening techniques to rapidly optimize conditions and produce highly branched soluble polymers without the formation of insoluble networks.

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