Preparation of polystyrene/MMT nanocomposite through in situ RAFT polymerization by new chain transfer agent derived from bisphenol A

Abstract

Reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization was performed in the presence of a new RAFT agent based on bisphenol A and modified clays and successfully prepared polystyrene/MMT nanocomposite. The structure of RAFT agent was investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1H NMR). The polymer had well-defined molecular weight and narrow polydispersity obtained by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The morphology of polystyrene/MMT nanocomposite was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and was found to be exfoliated. Thermal stability of pure polystyrene and polystyrene/MMT synthesized via RAFT polymerization was also investigated and showed better thermal stability for nanocomposite. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.