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| CSIRO | SOLVE | Issue 8 | Aug 06 | |
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ARTICLE
POLYMER CHEMISTRY:
cRAFTing Better Polymers By Tony Kaye
A breakthrough in polymer chemistry is generating excitement on a global levelMolecular science plays a fundamental role in many of the things we take for granted, from the inks in printer cartridges and the paint and tyres on cars, to plastic and even medications. Controlling and manipulating chemistry at the molecular level, particularly the combinations, weights and sizes of the synthetic molecules or monomers used to create more complex polymers for customised applications, has been one of science’s more ambitious quests for decades. Until now control of the process of linking different types of monomers has been limited. When monomers are combined they start to form polymer chains, but the lengths and structure of these chains will vary. Consequently, the quality and functionality of the end product may be far from optimal.
RAFT allows the controlled addition of monomers, resulting in much better defined polymer structures, including the size of the molecules produced or the length of the polymer chain. RAFT is also referred to as a ‘living’ polymerisation process, meaning the process can be stopped at any time and then restarted. This allows the addition of different monomers with different physical–chemical properties. “Through gaining a greater understanding of the polymer process, we were able to come up with various ways of controlling the process,” says Dr Ezio Rizzardo, a member of the CSIRO Molecular and Health Technologies team that invented RAFT. The process has attracted international acclaim within the scientific community and several major corporations have bought licences to use the technology. “In the past few years some 50 companies around the world have taken out about 150 patents for products that will utilise RAFT,” Dr Rizzardo says. “To commercialise those products they will have to acquire a licence from CSIRO and DuPont. What is satisfying is to see all the research groups around the world exploiting the chemistry.” Fellow CSIRO scientist Dr Gerry Wilson says being able to add different monomers to the end of polymer chains using RAFT has many advantages. “You can start making very sophisticated polymers and polymer structures by using monomers that are normally incompatible with each other,” he says. “RAFT also helps us make libraries of materials, where the structure of the materials and therefore the properties vary in a very logical and a very systematic way. “These libraries can then be screened for a range of applications, from coatings and varnishes to cosmetics and materials for drug delivery.” The process can also be used to make different polymer architectures, or shapes, that are perfectly identical to each other. “This has been one of the grand challenges in polymer science around the world that people had been trying to crack for a long time,” Dr Wilson says. “We have been working with DuPont Performance Coatings on this for many years, as they also saw the value of this, and so we formed a strategic alliance.” Dr Wilson says CSIRO has a very substantial patent estate, jointly owned with DuPont, and research licences have been signed with a significant number of companies. “We monitor the patent literature very closely and you can see the rapid increase in companies now taking out patents around RAFT applications.” Leo Hyde, research and development manager of the DuPont Technical Centre in Australia, says part of the current interest is in electronics and medical applications. “There is also some development work being done in paints. And we fully expect that many of these initiatives will lead to high-value commercial products. We see the technology as having huge potential.” APPLICATION A process known as Reversible Addition Fragmentation Chain Transfer (RAFT) enables the controlled addition of monomers, resulting in much better defined polymer structures BENEFIT Optimal quality, strength, resilience and functionality of the end product For further information contact: |
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But that is changing following an Australian breakthrough. CSIRO scientists, working with US-based DuPont, have developed a process that is predicted to revolutionise the polymer-making process. Using a process known as RAFT, or Reversible Addition Fragmentation Chain Transfer, the creation of polymers can be controlled to build stronger and more resistant synthetic products than previously possible.
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