THE BULK FREE-RADICAL COPOLYMERIZATION OF STYRENE AND MALEIC-ANHYDRIDE

The composition of copolymer depended on the concentration of initiato r in the bulk free radical polymerization of styrene (St) and maleic a nhydride (MA) at 70 degrees C, In low concentration of initiator the c omposition of copolymer had nothing to do with the content of monomer in the feed, However, in high concentration of initiator the product o f polymerization contained polystyrene and random copolymer, Homopolym erization of styrene took place when copolymerization stopped at lower conversion, At the same time, copolymer tended to 1 : 1 alternation w ith the increasing of content of MA in the feed in the range of 70-160 degrees C. The experimental results indicated that the two sorts of p olymerization simultaneously existed if temperature was over 120 degre es C. The conversion of copolymerization had less dependence on the te mperature and were less than 50%, The composition of copolymers tended to 1 : 1 alternation as the temperature approached 140 degrees C. The random copolymers of St and MA were yielded above 140 degrees C.