View article

A series of relatively monodisperse samples of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) were synthesized by reversible addition−fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) over the molecular weight range 2 × 10³−3 × 10⁵. For molecular weights below 4 × 10⁴, conditions were found so that polydispersity remained below 1.4 up to high conversion (72%). Molecular weight distributions of polymer obtained using GPC in THF and MALDI were in accord for the low molecular weight range (typically 10⁵). Particular care is required in GPC sample preparation:  it is necessary to ensure that trace amounts of water are initially present when drying a polymer sample prior to dissolution in THF, to avoid irreversible chain aggregation. The log/log plot of intrinsic viscosity against molecular weight for polyNIPAM was found to be linear for molecular weights <10⁵, after which the hydrodynamic volume seems to be independent of molecular weight …