Effect of 1,2,3-Trichloropropane as Tri-Functional Monomer on Thermophysical Properties of Poly(ethylene tetrasulfide)

Abstract

<em>In this study, the effect of 1,2,3-trichloropropane (TCP) as trifunctional monomer on thermophysical properties of synthesized poly(ethylene tetrasulfide) (PETS) is investigated. </em><em>To this end, different amounts of TCP (0-40 mol. % of halide-containing monomer) were incorporated</em><em> into the structure of polysulfide polymer via interfacial condensation polymerization. Measurement </em><em>of gel, fraction showed that by the introduction of only 10 mol. % of TCP, synthesized structure is almost </em><em>crosslinked. </em><em>The X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) results revealed that all samples are semi-crystalline </em><em>whereas the crystallinity of samples strongly depends on the amount of TCP. All samples showed a glass transition temperature (T_g) less than 0 °C followed by melting temperature (T_m). Higher amount</em><em>of crosslinking monomer resulted in higher T_g while T_m and heat of fusion (ΔH_m) were reduced. According to ThermoGravimetric Analysis (TGA) results, all samples exhibited a two-stage degradation process. Although, the introduction of 10 mol. % TCP into the structure of PETS resulted</em><em> in lower thermal stability of obtained polymer, adding higher amounts of TCP led to the higher thermal stability of polymers.</em>