Synthesis and Characterization of Copolymer of Methacrylonitrile with Isobornyl Methacrylate

Abstract

Copolymer of methacrylonitrile (MAN) with isobornyl methacrylate (IBM) has been studied by free radical polymerization using azo-bis-isobutyro nitrile (AIBN) as initiator in dimethyl formamide (DMF) at 60 ± 1ºC. The monomer reactivity ratio was computed by both Fineman-Ross (F-R) and Kelen-Tudos (K-T) methods. The reactivity ratio values suggest the formation of random copolymers which has been supported by the azeotropic composition evaluation. The mean sequence length ( n ) and probabilities (p) in the formation of various structurally units were evaluated. The molecular weights of the polymers were determined by gel permeation chromatography and they increase with the increase of the MAN content. The solubility parameters were determined with viscometric method. The glass transition temperature (T_g) of the copolymers were determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of the copolymer was studied. The dielectric properties of the copolymer like the dielectric constant and dielectric loss were studied. The results are compared with methacrylonitrile and isobornyl acrylate (MAN-IBA) system.