SBIR Phase II:SBIR Phase II: Adapting ATRP to Industrial Scale Production

This SBIR Phase II project will scale up the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) synthetic method to a 200 L scale from a 1 L scale that was developed in the Phase I work. This ATRP synthetic process is a highly controlled method for synthesizing polymers and copolymers specifically with highly tailored architectures including molecular structure and molecular weight distribution which can affect the properties of the material significantly. The broader impact/commercial potential of the project will be to create a commercially viable option for producing specialty polymers that might not otherwise be feasible to produce on a large scale. This SBIR Phase II project will allow straightforward scale-up of ATRP process and bring it much closer to the broad market of commercial products. More importantly, the successful validation of the new ?feeding? method for ATRP will allow, in the near future, a significant decrease in the consumption of energy and generation of chemical waste for all companies, which will utilize the ATRP technology for the synthesis of new well-defined and better performing materials.