The thermal stability of poly(methyl methacrylate) prepared by RAFT polymerisation

Abstract

Poly(methyl methacrylate), PMMA, was prepared by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer, RAFT, polymerisation using 2-(2-cyanopropyl)-dithiobenzoate, CPDB, as the RAFT agent. The thermal stability of the resulting polymer approached that of anionically prepared PMMA, as determined by thermogravimetry. This was the consequence of the RAFT prepared polymer having no head-to-head links and no chain end double bonds, which are responsible for the relatively low thermal stability of radically prepared PMMA.

Poli(metil metakrilat), PMMA, je sintetisan kontrolisanom radikalnom RAFT polimerizacijom, odnosno reverzibilnom adiciono-fragmentacionom transfer polimerizacijom, u prisustvu 2-(2-cijanopropil)-ditiobenzoata, CPDB, kao RAFT agensa. Termička stabilnost PMMA sintetisanog RAFT polimerizacijom je slična polimeru dobijenom anjonskom polimerizacijom, što je pokazala termogravimetrijska analiza. PMMA sintetisan RAFT polimerizacijom pokazuje znatno bolju termičku stabilnost u odnosu na PMMA sintetisan polimerizacijom preko slobodnih radikala, zbog odsustva termički labilnih veza glava-glava ostataka monomera u polimernom lancu, kao i dvostrukih veza na krajevima lanaca.