PHYSICOCHEMICAL BEHAVIOR IN SOLUTION OF STAR-SHAPED POLYSTYRENE WITH A C-60 CORE

Fairly pure hexaadducts of molecular weights ranging from 2 x 10(4) to 2 x 10(6) could be prepared by reacting polystyryllithium with C-60 i n toluene. These star-shaped polymers, with a fullerene core, associat e a low polymolecularity of the arms (I<1.1) and a fairly good control of the functionality (6). Their behavior in toluene has been establis hed using static and dynamic light scattering as well as viscometric m easurements. The dimensions of these star-molecules in this good solve nt, normalized by the dimensions of the arm or by that of linear polys tyrene of same molecular weight, are in agreement with those expected for stars with six arms. Upon decreasing the molecular weight fi-om 2 x 10(6) to 5 x 10(5), an evolution from a random coil type behavior to ward that of a dense sphere can be observed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.