Study on the synthesis and application of glycol diglycidyl ether terminated polystyrene oligomers

Abstract

Epoxy ether terminated polystyrene oligomer with molecular weight of 5000, was prepared by reaction of the living polystyrene (PS) carbanions with glycol diglycidyl ether (GDGE).The oligomer was characterised by Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC), Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance(1HNMR). The termination reaction time, temperature of termination and the terminator consumption were taken into account. The oligomer and antimicrobial (with end amino group) were blended in Hakke and grafted together at 160 C. The purified grafting copolymer was characterised by FT-IR. The results show that the termination efficiency increases with the increase in termination reaction temperature and time. The molar ratio of glycol diglycidyl ether and n-butyl lithium (n-BuLi) of 4:1 is the optimum addition dosage to obtain epoxy end-capped PS oligomer with highest content of end epoxy group within the accuracy of the experiment herein. The oligomer and antimicrobial can be easily grafted together in Hakke, and the grafting efficiency was found considerably high.