STUDY ON LIGHTLY SULFONATED SYNDIOTACTIC POLYSTYRENE IONOMERS

Sulfonated syndiotactic polystyrene ionomers (SsPS) with 1.8 mol% degree of sulfonation have been studied. WAXD shows that the crystallinity of SsPS ionomers was decreased with increasing diameter size of the counter ions and sPS > SsPS-H > SsPS-K > SsPS-Zn. Moreover, SsPS ionomers only have alpha crystal form, while original sPS has two crystal forms: alpha and beta crystal form. TGA shows that the thermal stability of SsPS ionomers is higher than that of the original sPS and SsPS-Zn > SsPS-K > SsPS-H. DSC shows that all the glass transition temperatures (T-g) of SsPS ionomers are higher than that of the neat sPS and SsPS-Zn > SsPS-Na > SsPS-K > SsPS-H. However, the melting temperature (T-m) and crystallization peak temperature (T-p) of SsPS ionomers are lower and SsPS-H > SsPS-Zn > SsPS-K > SsPS-Na, while the crystallinity (X-c) of SsPS-Zn is the lowest. Nonisothermal crystallization kinetics shows that the Avrami index of sPS and SsPS-H are both about 4, suggesting the nucleation growth of SsPS-H with lower degree of sulfonation still keeps its three-dimension form. FTIR spectra of SsPS ionomers show a splitting absorption band for asymmetric stretching vibration of sulfonation group. The CH in-plane bending vibration of benzene ring shifted to higher wavenumber and the symmetric stretching vibration of sulfonation group changed slightly with different counter ion neutralized SsPS ionomers.

Multiple Melting Endotherms of Syndiotactic Polystyrene in β Crystalline Form

A series of syndiotactic polystyrene (SPS) samples in β crystalline form were prepared by cooling from the melt at various cooling rates. The effects of cooling rate from the melt, and DSC heating rate on the multiple melting behaviors of β crystals were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and modulated differential scanning calorimetry (MDSC), from which the nature.of the multiple melting behavior was ascribed to the occurring of a recrystallization process.

FTIR Spectroscopic Study of Crystallization of Uniaxial Drawn Syndiotactic Polystyrene/Carbon Nanotube Nanocomposite Films

The crystallization of uniaxial hot drawn syndiotactic polystyrene/multi-walled carbon nanotube （sPS/MWCNT） nanocomposite films was studied by FTIR spectroscopy. The effects of MWCNT content, draw ratio and drawing temperature on the sPS crystallinity were investigated. The sPS/MWCMT nanocomposite films show reduced crystallinities with the increase of MWCNT content. In addition, with the increase of draw ratio, both the pure sPS and the sPS/MWCNT nanocomposite drawn films exhibit increased crystallinity. The effect of drawing temperature on the sPS crystallization is complex. In a temperature range of 100―135 °C, the crystallinity decreases with drawing temperature, whereas it increases at 140 °C for both pure sPS and its nanocomposite films.

Synthesis of Syndiotactic Polystyrene/Atactic Polypropene Block Copolymer in the presnece of Half-sandwich Titanocene Catalysts

Some highly active η~5-pentamethylcyclopentadienyltribenzyloxy titanium complexes [Cp Ti(OBz)_3] activated by modified methylaluminoxane (mMAO) were prepared and used as the catalyst for styrene syndiospecific polymerization and propene atactic polymerization. Styrene could be copolymerized with propene when the propene was prepolymerized for a period, to which styrene and tri-isobutylaluminum (TIBA) were then added. The titled block copolymer together with the related homopolymers was obtained. The copolymerization porducts can be divided into the homopolymers and the copolymer by successive solvent extraction with boiling butanone, heptane and tetrahydrofuran (THF), and each fraction was characterized by ~13C NMR, DSC and WAXD. It was found that aPS and aPP were soluble in boiling butanone and heptane respectively. The block copolymer (sPS-b-aPP) composed of syndiottactic polystyrene segment was soluble in boiling THF and the residue was chiefly sPS.

Synthesis of Syndiotactic Polystyrene with Novel Titanocene Catalysts Activated by Modified Methylaluminoxane

Novel highly active eta(5)-pentamethylcyclopentadienyltribenzyloxy titanium catalyst activated by modified methylaluminoxane (m-MAO) was prepared for styrene syndiospecific polymerization. The influences of the contents of trimethylaluminum (TMA) in m-MAO and external addition of tri-isobutylaluminum (TIBA) on the distribution of the oxidation states of titanium were investigated in detail. The Ti (III) is in favour of styrene syndiospecific polymerization in higher catalytic activity.

SOLID PHASE TRANSITION OF SYNDIOTACTIC POLYSTYRENE IN SUPERCRITICAL CO_2

Solid phase transition of the a form crystals to the 3 form crystals in syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS) samples has occurred in supercritical CO2. This transformation is different from those detected under other conditions. The effects of some factors (e.g. time, temperature, and pressure) on the solid phase transformation of sPS in supercritical CO2 were analyzed in detail. Experimental results show that longer time, higher temperature or higher pressure favors the transformation of the a form crystals to the beta form crystals.

The Phase Transition of Syndiotactic Polystyrene Induced by Electrostatic Field

The crystal structure and morphology of syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS) melt crystallized in various electrostatic fields have been investigated by using wide angle X ray diffraction (WAXD), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). WAXD and DSC analyses show that sPS is gradually transformed from α phase to β phase with increase of electrostatic intensity. The SEM observations indicate that the morphology of sPS micro crystals is strongly dependent on electrostatic intensity applied to the sample during solidification. The variation of the micro crystals orientation from disordered lamellae to ordered lamellare have been observed with increase of electrostatic intensity.

Equilibrium Crystallization Temperature of Syndiotactic Polystyrene γ Form

The crystallization behavior of syndiotactic polystyrene（s PS） γ form undergoing annealing at various temperatures was investigated using the thermodynamic phase diagram based on Strobl＇s crystallization theory. On the basis of the differential scanning calorimetric results, it was observed that γ form melt-recrystallization occurred at a higher temperature with the increasing lamellar thickness, which resulted from the pre-annealing at the elevating temperature after acetone induced crystallization. Further temperature dependent small-angle X-ray scattering（SAXS） measurement revealed the evolution of the γ form lamellae upon heating until phase transition, involving three different regimes： lamellae stable region（25-90 °C）, melt-recrystallization region（90-185 °C） and pre-phase transition region（185-195 °C）. As a result, recrystallization line, equilibrium recrystallization line and melting line were developed for the s PS γ form crystallization process. Since the melt of γ form involved a γ-to-α/β form phase transition, the melting line was also denoted as the phase transition line in this special case. Therefore, the equilibrium crystallization temperature and melting（phase transition） temperatures were determined at around 390 and 220 °C on the basis of the thermodynamic phase diagram of the s PS γ form.

Effects of Ligands in Novel Non-titanocene on Syndiotactic Polymerization of Styrene

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Morphological and Structural Studies of sPS/aPS Blends

The morphology and structure of the syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS)/atactic polystyrene (aPS) blends with various compositions have been studied by means of DSC, optical microscopy, SAXS, and WAXD. The results show that aPS is miscible with amorphous region of sPS. There is no macroscopic evidence that aPS forms separated domains in the blends. The decrease in crystallinity of sPS in the blends implies segregation of the aPS to the interfibrillar regions of the spherulites of sPS. The constancy of interlamellar distance and melting points indicates that the fibrillar structural units of sPS is unchanged on addition of aPS to sPS, and the unchanging parameters of the sPS unit cells mean that aPS does not enter the unit cells of sPS.

DMAO-activated Rare-earth Metal Catalysts for Styrene and Its Derivative Polymerization

The catalytic performa nee of rare-earth metal dialkyl complexes in combi nation with DMAO(dry methylalumi no xane)is explored.In the presence of 60 equivalents of DMAO,the half-sandwich complex(C_(13)H_(8)CH_(2)Ph)Sc(CH_(2)SiMe_(3))_(2)(THF)(1)is inert for styrene polymerization,but(C_(5)Me_(4)Ph)Sc(CH_(2)C_(6)H_(4)NMe_(2)-o)_(2)(2)con verts 18% styre ne into syn diotactic polystyrene.Under the same conditi ons,the con strained-geometry configuration sandium complex(C13H8CH2Py)Sc(CH_(2)SiMe_(3))_(2)(3a)displays extremely high catalytic activity(>6420 kg·mol_(sc)^(-1)h^(-1))and perfect syndiospecific(rrrr>99%)for styrene polymerization,while its lutetium(3b)and yttrium(3c)analogues are nearly inactive.Although the binary catalytic system 3a/DMAO exhibits very low activity for 4-methoxystyrene polymerization,it is an efficient catalyst for the syndioselective polymerization of other styrene derivatives such as 2-methoxystyrene,4-methylthiostyrene,4-fluorostyrene,4-dimethylhydrosilylstyrene,alkyne-susbstituted styrenes and 4-methylstyrene.In addition,the binary system 3a/DMAO can copolymerize ethylene and styrene to give alternating copolymers with a single glass tran sition at 80℃ and 0.4 MPa ethylene pressures.By in creasing styrene feed amount from 20 mmol to 60 mmol,the styre ne con tent slight in creases from 48.2 mol% to 53.8 mol%,but the polymerizatio n activity is obviously promoted from 240 kg·mol_(Sc)^(-1)·h^(-1) to 532 kg·mol_(sc)^(-1)·h^(-1).