Atom transfer radical polymerization of styrene under pulsed microwave irradiation

A homogeneous solution atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and reverse atom transfer radical polymerization (RATRP) of styrene (St) in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) were successfully carried out under pulsed microwave irradiation (PMI), using 1-bromo-1-phenylethane (1-PEBr)/CuCl/N,N,N′,N′′,N′′-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA) as an initiating system at 85°C and 2,2′-azo-bis-isobutyrontrile (AIBN)/CuCl₂/PMDETA as an initiating system at 95°C, respectively. The polymerization rates under PMI were greatly increased in comparison with those under identical conventional heating (CH).