Synthesis and Thermal Property of Linear Chloromethylated Polystyrene

Polystyrene (PS) was synthesized by emulsion polymerization. 1,4-bis(chloromethoxy)butane (BCMB) was synthesized using 1,4-butanediol, formaldehyde and phosphorus trichloride as raw material. The linear poly(p-chloromethyl styrene) (PS-Meyl-Cl) was prepared high effectively using BCMB and anhydrous aluminium trichloride as the chloromethylation reagent and catalyst, respectively. In this method, carcinogenic compound (chloromethyl ether etc.) was avoided. The resultant polymers were characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analyzer. The results show that the molecular weight (Mw) of PS is big. BCMB has been prepared because of the strong absorption band observed at 1130cm-1 (due to C-O-C bond stretching vibration) and two new bands at 640 and 1315cm-1 (due to the bending vibration of C-Cl bond and stretching vibration of C-H bond in -CH2Cl, respectively). Chloromethyl groups were introduced into benzene ring of PS because of the appearance of the absorption peaks at 676 and 1419cm-1 (due to the bending vibration of C-Cl bond and stretching vibration of C-H bond in -CH2Cl, respectively) in the FTIR spectra. The thermal stability of PS-Meyl-Cl was decreased with increasing chloromethyl group. Moreover, there are two decomposing stages. The reaction condition is gentle and the operation is safe, simple and economical.