Optimizing the Synthesis of CO2-Responsive Polymers: A Kinetic Model Approach for Scaling Up

The kinetic model is a crucial tool for optimizing polymer synthesis protocols and facilitating the scaled-up production processes of the CO₂-responsive polymer poly(N-[3-(dimethylamino)propyl]-acrylamide)-b-poly(methyl methacrylate)(PDMAPAm-<i>b</i>-PMMA), which is supposed to be implemented in direct air capture (DAC) technology. This study presents a simulation of the kinetic model developed for the Reversible Addition-Fragmentation Chain-Transfer (RAFT) polymerization of N-[3-(dimethylamino)propyl]-acrylamide (DMAPAm), alongside an investigation into the kinetics of this polymerization using the simulation as an analytical tool, as well as the application of the simulation for the upscaling of RAFT polymerization. Ultimately, the kinetic model was validated through two kinetic experiments, confirming its reliability. It was subsequently employed to optimize the synthesis recipe and to predict the properties of PDMAPAm homopolymers, thereby supporting the upscaling of PDMAPAm-<i>b</i>-PMMA diblock copolymer synthesis. In the end, the preliminary results of the CO₂-responsiveness of the diblock copolymer were determined with a simple experiment.