Radical predictions in polymer chemistry
Friday, January 21, 2011 - 11:02
in Physics & Chemistry
Free radicals may have a bad reputation for causing ozone depletion and premature aging, but they are in fact extremely useful for making novel materials, particularly polymers. Skilled chemists can link up a wide range of free radicals into long-chain polymers using a technique called atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Using different metal catalysts, one can precisely control the rates of polymerization and termination and therefore the architecture and functionality of the polymer.