Design and synthesis of new amphiphilic copolymers using controlled radical polymerization methods: study of solution properties as function of polymer composition and architecture

Amphiphilic copolymers have received significant attention in the last thirty years due to their exciting solution properties and their ability to self-assemble in stable micelles or other aggregates in a selective solvent. Fundamental aspects that must be considered, when dealing with amphiphilic copolymers, concerns their architecture and chemical structure. These are considered critical parameters for the final properties of the polymers. Several reversible-deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP) techniques have been successfully developed to obtain control over molecular weight distribution and architecture. Among those techniques, reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) were recognized as the most suitable techniques for synthesizing amphiphilic copolymers. In this PhD thesis, different polymeric systems were synthesized with common ground of dealing with the synthesis of defined amphiphilic copolymer structures by reversible-deactivation radical polymerization techniques. The final goal of this work was to obtain materials with specialized self-aggregation, surface activity, rheological properties and related ones, that may suit different applications. Additionally, triggered by the necessity to find alternative bio-derived amphiphilic copolymers, different novel bio-derived systems were synthetized and their solution properties studied, with the ultimate goal of providing alternative bio-derived systems to oil-derived commercial products