Study on the synthesis of poly (MMA-TFEMA) by bulk copolymerization

摘要

Copolymers based on methyl methacrylate (MMA) and 2,2,2-trifluoethyl methacrylate (TFEMA) were synthesized by bulk copolymerization for the applications of optical waveguide. The effects of the concentration of initiator, the content of chain transfer reagent and the temperature of polymerization on the conversion and number-average molecular weight (Mn) were discussed. The chemical structures of copolymers were characterized by 1H-NMR. It was found that the increase of initiator, chain transfer reagent or temperature results in the decrease of Mn. Besides, the high temperature also can form many bubbles in copolymer, which is harmful for fabrication of optical fiber. At last, the appropriate polymerization condition was obtained according to the effects of three factors on the value of Mn and the conversion.