Syntheses and properties of photodegradable polystyrene-containing carbonyl group

Abstract

The copolymerizations of styrene (St) and methyl vinyl ketone (MVK) or phenyl vinyl ketone (PVK) were carried out in benzene by using azobisisobutylonitrile (AIBN). The synthesized copolymers, poly(St-co-MVK) and poly(St-co-PVK), were identified by infrared (IR) spectroscopy. Under the presence of oxygen, the copolymers containing carbonyl group after UV irradiation showed photodegradable properties that caused by Norrish Type II reaction. The new IR characteristic peaks, such as carbonyl and vinyl groups of the photooxidized copolymers, increased by increasing UV irradiation time. In the photodegradation property, the color differences of the synthesized copolymers were higher than those of polystyrene with increasing UV irradiation time, which was caused by the inherent photodegradable property of carbonyl unit in copolymers. The average molecular weights of samples after UV irradiation for 300 h decreased, as compared with polymers before irradiation. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 67:1237–1242, 1998