We report the application of the "internal trigger" approach to multistep microfluidic polymerization reactions conducted in droplets, namely, polyaddition and polycondensation. We hypothesized and experimentally established that heat generated in an exothermic free radical polymerization of an acrylate monomer (Reaction 1) triggers the polycondensation of the urethane oligomer (Reaction 2). Co...

Nanoparticles ranging below several 10 nm such as metals, semiconductors and metal oxides are of great interest for a wide variety of applications in the field of information, energy, environmental and medical technologies due to their unique size, composition and structure. In this review article synthesis method of nanosized particles is briefly described including their application in today’...

Precise control of the energy levels in a conjugated polymer is the key to allowing their exploitation in optoelectronic devices. The introduction of spirocycles into conjugated polymers has traditionally been used to enhance their solid state microstructure. Here we present a highly novel method of energetic tuning through the use of electronically active spirocyclic systems. By modifying the ...

The use of robotic instrumentation and Python scripts allows for fully automated robust combinatorial polymer synthesis.

253 news & views reactions. Furthermore, it was found that AB-functionalized building blocks were prone to intramolecular cyclization on the DNA template, whereas much better intermolecular coupling efficiences were achieved by using mixtures of AA-and BB-modified building blocks. A range of coupling chemistries were explored, including amine acylation, reductive amination, hydrazine formation ...

Most star polymers with controlled molecular weight and low polydispersity are synthesized by living polymerization, in which only initiation and propagation reactions, but not chain transfer reaction, take place. Accordingly, the obtained star polymers are generally not contaminated with linear polymers. Recently, we have developed chain-growth condensation polymerization, a kind of living pol...

In this work, we report synthesis and characterization of copper nanoparticles in polymer matrix by wet-chemical reduction method using ascorbic acid as reducing agent, copper (II) sulfate as metal precursor and polyvinylpyrrolidone k-30 (PVP K-30) as surfactant agent. The reaction was carried out in a high-speed stirring mixture at room temperature under nitrogen atmosphere. Characterization o...