Molecular weight distribution of hyperbranched polymers generated from polycondensation of AB(2) type monomers in the presence of multifunctional core moieties

The molecular weight distribution and its moments for the hyperbranched pol ymer formed by the polycondensation of an AB(2) type monomer with a multifu nctional core moiety were derived rigorously by means of the kinetic method . The variations of several molecular parameters of the growing polymer dur ing the reaction were estimated. The presence of a small amount of multifun ctional core molecules, RBf, in the polycondensation system of AB(2) type m onomers is found to lead to a marked reduction in the polydispersity index of the final polymer. During the polymerization process, the molecular weig ht distribution first becomes broader with increasing conversion of A group s and then abruptly becomes considerably more narrow as the reaction approa ches completion. The greater the number of functional groups in the core mo iety, the narrower the final molecular weight distribution of the polymer.