Fahimeh Khakzad - Department of Polymer Science, Iran Polymer & Petrochemical Institute, Tehran IRAN
Mohammad Hossein Shariffian - Department of Polymer Science, Iran Polymer & Petrochemical Institute, Tehran IRAN
Ali Reza Mahdavian - Department of Polymer Science, Iran Polymer & Petrochemical Institute, Tehran IRAN

RAFT-mediated polymerization is utilized as a technique for designing a desired molecular structure with a pre-determined molecular weight. Here, by using this technique, a dual responsive copolymer has been prepared by incorporating dimethyl aminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) as the temperature-responsive segment with LCST of 40°C, and spiropyran ethyl acrylate (SPEA) which is responsible for the UVresponsivity. Mn of about 6000 g.mol-1 was obtained which was in a good agreement with the pre-determined theoretical value. The copolymer structure was confirmed by NMR analysis. UV analysis confirmed the UVresponsivity via the appearance of a 540 nm absorption peak after irradiation. Reversible temperatureresponsivity was also demonstrated by heating and cooling the sample. This is the first example of the preparation of this copolymer by means of RAFT technique

Spiropyran, Dimethyl aminoethyl methacrylate, RAFT, Stimuli-responsive, Copolymer