Monomers for non-bond crosslinking of vinyl polymers - III. Some characteristics of the system

In the new type of non-bond crosslinking where a vinyl macrocycle acts as t he crosslinking agent, it is shown that factors affecting threading of poly mer chains into macrocyclic rings which lead to crosslinking, such as ring size, ratio of co-monomer to cyclic monomer and length of the vinyl polymer chain are important factors that govern the extent of the crosslinking. Th ey also affect the swelling of the crosslinked copolymers in various solven ts, as well as their thermal properties. Some differences from conventional crosslinking using difunctional vinyl monomers are pointed out. (C) 1999 E lsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.