Ultrafast Xanthate-Mediated Photoiniferter PISA

Jared I. Bowman,¹ Cabell B. Eades,¹ Maria A. Vratsanos,² Victoria L. Thompson,¹ Nathan Gianneschi,^2-4 and Brent S. Sumerlin¹*

1George & Josephine Butler Polymer Research Laboratory, Center for Macromolecular Science & Engineering, Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
2Department of Chemistry, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Pharmacology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
3International Institute for Nanotechnology, Simpson Querrey Institute, Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
4Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States

Polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) is a highly effective method for producing block copolymer nanostructures. Recent research has focused on using photochemistry for PISA due to the benefits of light, including mild reaction conditions, cost, and spatiotemporal control. However, chain-end degradation and long reaction times have hindered the efficacy of this technique. To address these challenges, we present the use of ultrafast photoiniferter PISA, which produces nanoobjects by leveraging the rapid photolysis of xanthates. This approach achieves near-quantitative monomer conversion in just 5 minutes, leading to a wide range of nanoparticle morphologies.