The synthesis of star-shaped poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) with two zinc porphyrins as the core and end groups via ATRP and 'CLICK' chemistry and a photocatalytic performance study

Through the cooperation of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and the click reaction, star-shaped poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), namely, (ZnTHPP-(PNIPAM-ZnTPP)4) with 5,10,15,20-tetra(4-(2-bromoisobutoxy)phenyl)-21H,23H-zincporphyrin (ZnTHPP-4Br) as the core group and 5-(4-propargyloxyphenyl)-10,15,20-triphenylzinc-21H,23H-porphyrin (ZnTPP-Py) as the end group was prepared, and it was used as a photocatalyst for the degradation of Rhodamine B under visible light irradiation. The structure of the star-shaped polymer was characterized by FT-NIR, 1H NMR, UV-Vis and GPC analyses. The photocatalytic property study indicated that ZnTHPP-(PNIPAM-ZnTPP)4 had higher photocatalytic activity than the polymer ZnTHPP-(PNIPAM-Br)4 before the click reaction and could be recycled by warming.