Synthesis and properties of butyl rubber–poly(ethylene oxide) graft copolymers with high PEO content

Butyl rubber‐poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) graft copolymers with high PEO content (40–83 wt %) were synthesized by the functionalization and activation of the double bond moiety of butyl rubber containing high (7 mol %) isoprene content and subsequent reaction with PEO of different molecular weights from 750 to 5000 g/mol. The properties of these copolymers, along with other butyl rubber‐PEO graft copolymers were studied in films and in aqueous solution. Despite the high PEO content, films of the copolymers were quite stable in water with respect to mass loss and were capable of releasing an encapsulated probe molecule in a manner that was dependent on the PEO content. At high PEO content they were resistant to the adhesion and growth of C2C12 cells. Despite the resistance of films to dissolution, it was possible to prepare nanosized aqueous assemblies via a THF‐water exchange process and the sizes of the assemblies were tuned by their method of preparation. The assemblies were also able to encapsulate a probe molecule and were found to be nontoxic in vitro. Combined, this set of properties makes these new amphiphilic copolymers promising for a wide range of potential applications. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 3383–3394