Synthesis and properties of polystyrene/polydimethylsiloxane graft copolymers

Abstract

Polystyrene-graft-polydimethylsiloxane (PS-g-PDMS) copolymers with different PDMS content were synthesized by the radical bulk copolymerization of PDMS macromonomer and styrene. The copolymers were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR),¹H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and the mechanical properties of the copolymers were also carried out. It was indicated that the notched impact strength and elongation at break of the polymers increased with the increase of PDMS content. The thermal stability of PS-g-PDMS is better than that of PS.