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Controlling the molecular weight of poly(2,5‐bis[ N ‐methyl‐ N ‐hexylamino]phenylene vinylene) using nitrobenzene as an inhibitor
Author(s) -
Garrison Michael D.,
Sotuyo Ania,
StengerSmith John D.,
Baldwin Lawrence C.,
Baca Alfred J.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2642-4169
pISSN - 2642-4150
DOI - 10.1002/pol.20210009
Subject(s) - nitrobenzene , polymerization , polymer chemistry , molar mass distribution , polymer , materials science , size exclusion chromatography , phenylene , dimer , molecular mass , mass spectrometry , chemistry , organic chemistry , chromatography , catalysis , composite material , enzyme
Poly(2,5‐bis[ N ‐methyl‐ N ‐hexylamino] phenylene vinylene) (BAM‐PPV) has been studied for several decades as an anti‐corrosion coating. Although the polymer is readily synthesized via base‐promoted radical chain polymerization, BAM‐PPV exhibits poor solubility at high‐molecular weights (M w > 100 kDa), which limits its applications. In this work, the molecular weight of BAM‐PPV was modulated with nitrobenzene. At nitrobenzene loading as low as 0.9 mol%, the polymerization reaction produced low‐molecular weight BAM‐PPV (M w = 5–46 kDa). The polymerization of BAM‐PPV was systematically studied via size‐exclusion chromatography (SEC), liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC‐MS), and 1 H NMR spectroscopy, which revealed suppression of the dimer intermediate before chain polymerization. Collectively, this work could expand the practical applications of BAM‐PPV for use in optoelectronic devices or corrosion inhibition coatings.