Using Polymerization‐Induced Self‐Assembly in Orthogonally‐Reactive Dispersants to Design Tough Nanostructured Materials: Application to Epoxy Networks

Abstract We report here how the polymerization‐induced self‐assembly approach can be implemented in orthogonally reactive dispersants to afford the preparation of nanostructured polymer networks. Precisely‐defined PMMA ‐b‐ PLMA block copolymers self‐assembling into different morphologies are first obtained in epoxy monomers through RAFT dispersion polymerization. The subsequent polymerization of the epoxide (through step growth or chain growth polymerization) affords the straightforward preparation of epoxy networks that integrate diverse BCP structures and exhibit significantly enhanced fracture toughness at extremely low block copolymer content (1% w/w).