Living radical polymerization and molecular imprinting: Improving polymer morphology in imprinted polymers

Living radical polymerization (LRP) techniques and their ability to improve the morphology of crosslinked polymer networks by controlling polymer chain growth are reviewed. Recent successes in the creation of improved molecularly imprinted polymer networks are also discussed. LRP offers the ability to control molecular weight, polydispersity, and tacticity while reducing microgel formation in polymers created via free-radical polymerization (FRP). The improved network architecture of polymers created via LRP has great potential, especially when considering imprinted networks which have traditionally been plagued by heterogeneity in network morphology and binding affinities. Using LRP can considerably improve template recognition and further delay template transport in imprinted polymers. The improved network architecture of the polymers created using LRP has great potential for the creation of better molecularly imprinted polymers which have traditionally been plagued by heterogeneity in network morphology and binding site affinities. Recent successes in the creation of molecularly imprinted polymer networks, gels, and nanoparticles using LRP techniques are discussed.