In recent years, myrcene has emerged as a biobased alternative to isoprene for the manufacture of thermoplastic elastomers due to its similarity to isoprene, a building block for natural rubber. Through the use of highly reactive tert-butyl acrylate as a hard segment monomer, a structurally well-defined poly(tert-butyl acrylate)-b-poly(β-myrcene)-b-poly(tert-butyl acrylate) (BMB) thermoplastic triblock copolymer elastomer was synthesized by a mild reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) emulsion polymerization method utilizing a precisely devised amphiphilic macro-RAFT agent. The block copolymer BMB was confirmed by NMR, FTIR, and GPC analyses. BMB thus exhibits typical thermoplastic elastomeric properties, as indicated by its mechanical properties with an ultimate tensile strength of 3.0 MPa and an elongation at break of 195% with tert-butyl acrylate added at 50% mass ratio. The properties of BMB can be easily tuned by adjusting the hydrolysis degree, facilitating cooperative interactions in the hard phase and enhancing tensile properties. This carboxyl interaction is an effective strategy for controlling medium strength thermoplastic elastomers.

中文翻译：

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使用两亲性大分子RAFT试剂在水介质中通过乳液聚合精确合成生物基月桂烯热塑性弹性体


近年来，由于月桂烯与天然橡胶的结构单元异戊二烯相似，月桂烯已成为异戊二烯的生物基替代品，用于制造热塑性弹性体。通过使用高反应活性的丙烯酸叔丁酯作为硬链段单体，得到结构明确的聚(丙烯酸叔丁酯)-b-聚(β-月桂烯)-b-聚(丙烯酸叔丁酯)(BMB)热塑性三嵌段共聚物弹性体是通过温和的可逆加成-断裂链转移（RAFT）乳液聚合方法，利用精确设计的两亲性大分子RAFT试剂合成的。嵌段共聚物 BMB 通过 NMR、FTIR 和 GPC 分析得到证实。因此，BMB 表现出典型的热塑性弹性体性能，其力学性能表明，在丙烯酸叔丁酯添加量为 50% 的情况下，其极限拉伸强度为 3.0 MPa，断裂伸长率为 195%。 BMB 的性能可以通过调节水解度轻松调节，促进硬相中的协同相互作用并增强拉伸性能。这种羧基相互作用是控制中等强度热塑性弹性体的有效策略。