Synthesis and Characterization of Triarylamine-Based Block Copolymers by Combination of C-N Coupling and ATRP for Photorefractive Applications

Zhenbo Cao, Kousuke Kousuke Tsuchiy, Takeshi Shimomura, Kenji Ogino

Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo, Japan.

DOI: 10.4236/ojopm.2012.24008                

Abstract

Poly(4-butyltriarylamine)s with t-butyldimethylsilyl terminal protecting group (PBTPA-TBS) with various molecular weights were prepared by C-N coupling polymerization. The resulting precursors were postfunctionalized and subse- quently used as macroinitiators for atom transfer radial polymerization (ATRP) of n-butyl acrylate (n-BA) and ethyl acrylate (EA). Both the polymerization processes were controlled and the polymers were characterized by ¹H NMR, gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and thermal properties, which confirmed the successful synthesis of all the poly-mers. The microphase separated behaviors of the poly (4-butyltriarylamine)-block-poly (butyl acrylate) (PBTPA-b-PBA) were examined by AFM in the film showing phase separation structures for all the polymers. The photorefractive property of the composite based on PBTPA-b-PBA block copolymer was evaluated by two-beam coupling experiment. A relative high gain coefficient of 42.7 cm?1 was obtained at the electric field of 31 V/?m.

Keywords

C-N Coupling; Atrp; Triarylamine; Acrylate Ester; Photorefractivity

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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