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Nanoflower-Shaped Biocatalyst with Peroxidase Activity Enhances the Reversible Addition–Fragmentation Chain Transfer Polymerization of Methacrylate Monomers
journal contribution
posted on 2018-01-23, 19:05 authored by Xing-Huo Wang, Ming-Xue Wu, Wei Jiang, Bo-Lei Yuan, Jun Tang, Ying-Wei YangOrganic–inorganic
hybrid nanoflowers, facilely made from
bovine serum albumin and copper phosphate (BSA–Cu3(PO4)2·3H2O), have attracted
considerable attention for the application of biocatalysts in recent
years. The improved stability and activity of above-mentioned nanoflowers
enhanced the efficiency of reversible addition–fragmentation
chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization of functional methacrylate monomers
with the assistance of acetylacetone (ACAC) and hydrogen peroxide
(H2O2) in a mixed solvent of DMF and H2O. Such RAFT strategy can be employed for the polymerization of N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate
(DMAEMA) and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMA500), in which both poly(DMAEMA) and poly(PEGMA500) could be synthesized in a controllable manner with typical RAFT
features, e.g., precise control of molecular weight, specific molecular
structure, and narrow polydispersity index (Mw/Mn). Significantly, the low-cost
nanoflowers could be easily separated from reaction mixture after
polymerization and will not adhere to resulting polymers as same as
enzymes. Moreover, 1H NMR characterization of the retaining
end groups of the resultant polymers and the chain extension experiments
confirmed the mechanism of RAFT polymerization. The present biocatalytic
system can serve as optimal alternatives of free enzymes in RAFT polymerization,
which will hopefully enrich the methodology toward the construction
of vinyl-based polymers with controlled radical polymerization (CRP).