Crosslinking of polystyrene by mono‐ and difunctional agents

Abstract

AbstractSlightly crosslinked polystyrene networks are preferable to linear polystyrene in commercial uses where increased thermal properties are favoured. A novel method of production of macrocrosslinked networks has been developed by reaction of polystyrene with mono‐ and difunctional derivatives of p‐xylene, durene and oligomeric chains (n<10) thereof. The reaction system consists of a common organic solvent such as acetic acid or butyl acetate and a catalyst such as H2SO4 or HClO4; the reaction temperature varies between 60°C and 100°C. The degrees of crosslinking and thermal properties of the produced networks depend on the reaction system, the molar ratio of polymer to crosslinking agent and the reactivity of the functional groups; the gelation time varies between 3–12 hours for a fully crosslinked network. Promotion of the formation of regular structure networks without branches in the chains between crosslinks is achieved by the use of difunctional monomers, which favour the formation of linear polybenzylene chains between the polystyrene chains. Use of monofunctional monomers leads usually to branched and slightly crosslinked or grafted polystyrene. In both cases the regions of Tg and Tm increase up to 115°C and 350°C respectively as judged by DSC analysis. This novel crosslinking method has been also applied to crosslinking of copolymers of polystyrene and polymeric chains with aromatic structure in their backbone chain.