Crosslinked polyolefins for biomedical applications and method of making same

A method of preparing a copolymer comprising:

• polymerizing at least one branched alkene monomer and at least one olefin monomer having a pendant benzocyclobutene (BCB) group to form a copolymer comprising a random distribution of a plurality of constitutional units that include constitutional units corresponding to the at least one branched alkene monomer and constitutional units corresponding to the at least one olefin monomer having a pendant BCB group;
• wherein the polymerizing includes a carbocationic polymerization reaction involving i) forming a mixture that includes the at least one branched alkene monomer and at least one initiator compound to initiate a polymerization reaction of the at least one branched alkene monomer, wherein the mixture does not include the at least one olefin monomer having a pendant BCB group, and ii) adding both the at least one branched alkene monomer and the at least one olefin monomer having a pendant BCB group to the polymerization reaction of i) without terminating the carbocationic polymerization reaction.