Recyclable Nano Zero‐Valent Iron (nZVI)‐Catalyst‐Mediated Sustainable Photopolymerization of Glycidyl Methacrylate in Ionic Liquid and Functional Copolymers Thereof

Abstract Utilization of reusable catalysts and reaction media has recently been an area of interest to devise a sustainable approach. Interestingly, photoinduced reversible deactivation radical polymerization (photoRDRP) of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) is achieved with reusable and magnetically separable nano zero‐valent Iron (nZVI). This resulted in well‐defined poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) (upto 22700 g mol −1 ) with a low dispersity ( Đ ≤ 1.20). Using an ionic liquid and a straightforward low‐cost technique, three different copolymers: poly(glycidyl methacrylate‐ random ‐dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate) poly(GMA‐ r ‐DMAEMA), poly(glycidyl methacrylate‐ random ‐methyl methacrylate) poly(GMA‐ r ‐MMA) and poly(glycidyl methacrylate‐ random ‐styrene) poly(GMA‐ r ‐St) are produced, all without the need for traditional photoinitiators. The response of the poly(GMA‐ r ‐DMAEMA) to pH variations is evaluated.