Thermogravimetric analysis, infrared analysis, and nuclear magnetic resonance of linear un-grafted PCL, and POEGMA controls generated in situ during surface reactions with variances in block length

The generation of linear control of un-grafted poly(caprolactone) (PCL), poly[oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl methacrylate mono-methyl ether] (POEGMA) generated in situ will help us understand the reaction conditions needed to successfully graft these polymers onto the surface of SiO2 nanoparticles. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) & Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) data were collected and directly compared to the grafted species, when these grafted species were generated, to confirm the presence of these polymers on the surface of the NPs. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) & nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) were performed to analyze the structure of these linear analogues and give kinetic time points for controlling the block length of PCL & POEGMA respectively.