Synthesis and Characterization of Ionically Crosslinked Elastomers

Abstract

In this research poly(n-butyl acrylate) (PBA) elastomers were investigated as model systems to study the thermomechanical response of polymers crosslinked by organic ion pairs, where both the cation and anion are covalently bound to the polymer chain. Two main routes of polymer synthesis were investigated: (1) polymerization of n-butyl acrylate with a reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) agent containing polymerizable end-groups attached through an ion-pair (e.g. RAFT agent crosslinker) and (2) polymerization using an ion-pair comonomer as a crosslinking agent. Both routes were found to produce crosslinked networks that were insoluble in organic solvents that dissolve PBA. One challenge in these syntheses was the occurrence of mid-chain free radical transfer reactions that had a tendency to produce covalent crosslinks. These complicate the rheological characterization of these materials as two types of crosslinks are present in the network.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 12, 2015
Accession Number
AD1001268

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  • Kevin A Cavicchi

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  • University of Akron

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  • Human Systems

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  • Abstracts
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  • Department Of Defense
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  • Elastomers
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  • Materials science

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  • Polymer Science and Technology