To remove residual monomer after the RAFT polymerization of t-butyl acrylate, I usually do precipitation in methanol. Is there any other method (such as washing or others) that can better remove monomer and minimize the loss of product.
Dear Anjali Preman, other possibilities are membrane dialysis, soxhlet extraction. My Regards
@Anjali Preman
there are several possibilities. Membrane dialysis is great but takes a lot of time. Ultrafiltration is a more productive (and quick) method. Preparative GPC also an excellent opportunity, but such instruments are not common in research...
Dear Anjali Preman,
As you mentioned, the unreacted monomers can be removed by precipitating two/three times in the suitable solvent/solvents. Membrane dialysis is nice, as well. In addition, you can follow the centrifugation method, like these recent publications:
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Best Regards...
Dear Anjali, reprecipitation followed by wasing or extrqaction is probably the most efficient method for current purification of a polymer, because one removes not only residual monomer but also oligomers and other low-molar-mass impurities. However, note that even simple polymer precipitation requires certain "know how" if it should really be effective.
Best regards, Jiri
Dear Anjali,
If you get the correct membrane with the required pore size to let out your low molar mass oligomers and impurities while retaining your desired product, dialysis will help.
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