MRSEC Participant: Jimmy Stokes

MRSEC Faculty Advisor: Marc Hillmyer

Formation of a High Density Polyethylene-Polycyclooctene Block Copolymer

Many current biotechnological applications require mechanically anisotropic materials. That is, the material should be flexible in one direction, yet rigid in the other. However, these properties are rarely found in a single material. Therefore, combinations of materials with varied properties are used, consequently increasing the manufacturing cost and size of the device. One possible path to anisotropic behavior in a single material is to form a block copolymer of polycyclohexylethylene (PCHE) and polyethylene (PE). Using ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP), a polycyclooctene (PCOE) block can be inserted in the center of a double bond-functionalized polystyrene (PS) chain in the presence of the second generation Grubbs catalyst to form a triblock. After hydrogenation of PS and PCOE, the block copolymer consists of PCHE and PE. It is critical that the PE section is extremely linear, which increases the crystallinity of the material and is expected to enhance its anisotropy. ROMP of cyclooctene is the projected path we will take to achieve this.