Thermal stability of styrene/n-butyl acrylate RAFT-based copolymers

Abstract

Copolymers of styrene and n-butyl acrylate of various architectures (ABA and BAB block copolymers, random copolymers) are synthesized via reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization using a symmetrical bifunctional trithiocarbonate, namely, dibenzyl trithiocarbonate. These bulk copolymers are subjected to thermolysis in the temperature range from 100 to 200 °C under an inert atmosphere (in the absence of air) and analyzed by size exclusion chromatography and UV-vis spectroscopy. Additionally, the treated polymers are used in the chain extension of styrene polymerization to verify their functionality as RAFT agents. The correlation between the thermal stability of copolymers and their chemical structure, i.e., the chemical nature of the monomer unit linked with the trithiocarbonate group, is discovered.