This invention relates to methods of making graft copolymers, and articles having such graft copolymers. The methods may provide better control than in radicalization or photoinitiated polymerization techniques. For example, a graft copolymer can be prepared by reacting an alkoxide ion with a polymer. The alkoxide, in turn, can be provided by any suitable technique, for example, by reacting an alcohol with a base. In some embodiments of the invention, the graft copolymers may be a normally hydrophobic polymer, such as a polysulfone, that has been made more hydrophilic due to the attachment of hydrophilic side groups such as polyethylene glycol or polypropylene glycol. The copolymers of the invention have many uses, for example, in films or porous membranes.
The present invention provides a series of baroplastic materials, and systems and methods of making and using such baroplastic materials. In one aspect of the invention, polymeric particles are provided that can be used to produce baroplastic materials under certain pressures and/or below certain temperatures. In one set of embodiments, the polymeric particles include an inner "core" region and an outer "shell" region. In some cases, more than one "shell" region may be present. In another arrangement the particles can include materials, or domains, in nanoscale proximity with each other. Non-particulate materials can also be processed in accordance with the invention. In another aspect of the invention, the invention provides for polymeric particles that can be processed and/or recycled multiple times, without causing significant degradation or alteration in the physical and/or chemical properties of the polymer. In yet another aspect, the invention provides compositions able to form baroplastic materials upon the application of certain pressures, where the composition includes at least two chemically distinct materials in nanoscale proximity to each other. In still another aspect of the invention, a method of mixing two polymers upon the application of pressure is provided.
This invention relates to methods of making graft copolymers, and articles having such graft copolymers. The methods may provide better control than in radicalization or photoinitiated polymerization techniques. For example, a graft copolymer can be prepared by reacting an alkoxide ion with a polymer. The alkoxide, in turn, can be provided by any suitable technique, for example, by reacting an alcohol with a base. In some embodiments of the invention, the graft copolymers may be a normally hydrophobic polymer, such as a polysulfone, that has been made more hydrophilic due to the attachment of hydrophilic side groups such as polyethylene glycol or polypropylene glycol. The copolymers of the invention have many uses, for example, in films or porous membranes.