Poly(glycidyl methacrylate) Functional Modification Route

1. Amine grafting: Prepare cationic chelating adsorbents & bioseparation media

2. Carboxylic acid reaction: Improve hydrophilicity for water-based coating systems

3. Thiol click crosslinking: Fast curing coatings & high-selectivity adsorbents

4. Epoxy hydrolysis: Dihydroxyl modified biocompatible polymer materials

5. Thermal self-crosslinking: Single-component thermosetting industrial coatings

6. Pre-copolymerization: Customize epoxy content, hardness and solubility in advance

1. Core Reaction Principle

PGMA carries strained three-membered epoxy (oxirane) rings on each repeating unit. The high ring tension makes epoxy susceptible to nucleophilic ring-opening reactions under moderate temperature or mild catalytic conditions. Various functional groups can be covalently grafted onto the polymer backbone without destroying the main polymethacrylate chain, forming customized functionalized PGMA derivatives.

2. Classic Functional Modification Routes

Route 1: Amine-Epoxy Ring Opening (Most Widely Used)

• Reactants: Primary amines, secondary amines, polyethylenimine, ethylenediamine

• Product: Amine-functionalized cationic PGMA

• Functions brought: Chelating ability for heavy metals, positive surface charge for protein adsorption, bioligand binding sites

• Typical usage: Wastewater heavy metal adsorbents, bioseparation chromatography microspheres, enzyme immobilization carriers

Route 2: Carboxylic Acid-Epoxy Modification

• Reactants: Fatty acids, acrylic acid, various organic carboxylic acids

• Product: Hydrophilic carboxyl-modified PGMA

• Functions brought: Improved water compatibility, anionic adsorption performance

• Typical usage: Hydrophilic coating materials, water-based resin modifiers

Route 3: Thiol-Epoxy Click Reaction

• Reactants: Mercaptans, multi-thiol crosslinkers

• Product: Rapid crosslinked PGMA network or thiol-grafted PGMA

• Functions brought: Fast room-temperature curing, sulfur-containing chelating sites

• Typical usage: Fast-curing coatings, high-selectivity metal ion adsorbents

Route 4: Epoxy Hydrolysis Modification

• Reactants: Water with acid/base catalyst

• Product: Dihydroxyl-functionalized PGMA

• Functions brought: Super hydrophilic surface, additional hydroxyl reaction sites

• Typical usage: Biocompatible medical scaffolds, hydrophilic surface coatings

Route 5: Self-Crosslinking Route (No Extra Reagents)

• Trigger condition: Heating above 120–150°C

• Mechanism: Intermolecular epoxy self-ring-opening crosslinking

• Functions brought: Thermosetting rigid film, solvent-resistant crosslinked network

• Typical usage: Single-component self-crosslink industrial coatings

3. Copolymerization Pre-Modification Route (Before Polymerization)

Co-polymerize GMA monomer with MMA, styrene, EGDMA, hydrophilic monomers before polymerization:

• Adjust epoxy group density in advance

• Pre-set hardness, solubility, crosslink degree of final PGMA products

• Used to synthesize microspheres, powder PGMA and solution resin grades

4. Post-Crosslinking Route for Solid Carrier Materials

Linear PGMA microspheres react with diamine/dithiol crosslinkers to form insoluble rigid beads:

• No dissolution in organic solvents or water

• Stable porous structure for separation and adsorption

• Mainly applied in chromatography media and recyclable adsorbents