Fe-catalyzed chain shuttling polymerization of ethylene and 1,3-diene – FEATHER

The FEATHER project aims to prepare unprecedented multiblock copolymers (MBCPs) composed of multiple repetitions of linear ethylene blocks and 1,3-diene blocks, resulting in innovative thermoplastic elastomers (TPE). To achieve this goal, a chain shuttling polymerization (CSP) process will be implemented using a 1,3-diene monomer (first isoprene, then butadiene and beta-myrcene) and ethylene in the presence of two iron-based catalysts specific to one of the two comonomers. This process will specifically generate distinct macromolecular chains, reflecting the signature of each catalyst, which will be reversibly transferred from one catalyst to the other using an appropriate chain transfer agent (CTA), resulting in the formation of multi-segmented architectures.
In the first phase, chain transfer studies for each monomer-specific system will be conducted to determine the ideal conditions to apply in the second part of the project. Once the transfer conditions are defined, the second part of the project will be dedicated to the implementation of CSP to prepare an unprecedented multiblock copolymer of the type poly(diene-co-ethylene). This project will be supported by a partner who will perform theoretical calculations on catalyst and transfer systems to provide important information on the various propagation/transfer steps. In addition, the obtained copolymers will be characterized and their mechanical properties evaluated.