Polymerization and grafting onto particle surfaces via continuous flow chemistry

Polymer grafted inorganic particles are attractive building blocks for numerous chemical and material applications. Surface initiated controlled radical polymerization (SI-RAFT) is one of the most feasible methods to fabricate these materials. However, conventional in-batch approaches still suffer from several disadvantages, such as time-consuming purification processes, inefficient grafting, and possible gelation problems. A facile method was demonstrated to synthesize homopolymers and block copolymer grafted inorganic particles using continuous flow chemistry in an environmentally friendly aqueous media using the Phoenix Flow Reactor.