METHODS FOR PREPARING ACRYLATED POLYVINYL ALCOHOL-POLYESTER GRAFT COPOLYMERS

1 . A method comprising:

forming a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-polyester graft copolymer in a solvent; and

without isolating the PVA-polyester graft copolymer or separating the PVA-polyester graft copolymer from the solvent, reacting the PVA-polyester graft copolymer with an acrylating agent, optionally in the presence of a base, to form an acrylated PVA-polyester graft copolymer.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

isolating the acrylated PVA-polyester graft copolymer from the solvent.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the solvent comprises an aprotic solvent.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the solvent comprises N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, dimethylformamide, or any combination thereof.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the PVA-polyester graft copolymer comprises:

reacting PVA with a cyclic ester in a reaction mixture comprising the solvent and a catalyst effective to promote ring-opening polymerization of the cyclic ester to form the PVA-polyester graft copolymer.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the cyclic ester comprises ε-caprolactone.

7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the catalyst comprises a tin (II) catalyst.

8 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the catalyst comprises a tin (II) carboxylate.

9 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the reaction mixture is heated while forming the PVA-polyester graft copolymer.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the reaction mixture is heated at about 80° C. to about 120° C. while forming the PVA-polyester graft copolymer.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein heating takes place while forming the acrylated PVA-polyester graft copolymer.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the heating occurs at about 60° C. to about 100° C. while forming the acrylated PVA-polyester graft copolymer.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the base is present and comprises a tertiary amine.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the acrylating agent comprises acryloyl chloride.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the acrylated PVA-polyester graft copolymer has a molar ratio of PVA to polyester of about 1:10 to about 25:1.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the acrylated PVA-polyester graft copolymer has a polyester degree of polymerization of about 2 to about 15.

17 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

isolating the acrylated PVA-polyester graft copolymer from the solvent;

after isolating the acrylated PVA-polyester graft copolymer, combining the acrylated PVA-polyester graft copolymer with an electrolyte solution to form a gel polymer electrolyte; and

irradiating the acrylated PVA-polyester graft copolymer with a source of electromagnetic radiation suitable to photopolymerize acrylate groups and in the presence of a photoinitiator to cure the gel polymer electrolyte by crosslinking the acrylated PVA-polyester graft copolymer.

18 . A method comprising:

reacting polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with ε-caprolactone in a reaction mixture comprising an aprotic solvent and a catalyst effective to promote ring-opening polymerization of the ε-caprolactone, thereby forming a PVA-polycaprolactone (PCL) graft copolymer;

wherein the catalyst comprises a tin (II) carboxylate;

without isolating the PVA-PCL graft copolymer or separating the PVA-PCL graft copolymer from the aprotic solvent, reacting the PVA-PCL graft copolymer with acryloyl chloride in the presence of a tertiary amine to form an acrylated PVA-PCL graft copolymer; and

isolating the acrylated PVA-PCL graft copolymer from the aprotic solvent.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the aprotic solvent comprises N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, dimethylformamide, or any combination thereof.

20 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the acrylated PVA-PCL graft copolymer is isolated from the aprotic solvent by precipitation with an alcohol.