Studies on the Graft Copolymerization of Glycidylmethacrylate to Chloroprene Rubber and the Adhesive Nature of the Copolymer

It has been studied the graft copolymerization of glycidyl-methacrylate monomer containing two functional groups (vinyl- & epoxyl-) to chloroprene rubber. The reaction occured in the manner of chain transfer mechanism was carried out by means of solution polymerization in toluene in the presence of benzoyl peroxide as the radical initiator. The graft copolymer obtained from this work was analyzed by using IR spectrum, and the physical properties of the polymer such as the thermal behavior were also studied according to TG-DTA methods, and the potency of adhesiveness for the purpose of commercial application was investigated. Experimental results for the graft copolymerization are summarized as follows. 1) A small amount of initiator (0.5%) and 50% of monomer showed the best result for the grafting of monomer to the polymer chain of rubber while the 15% of rubber solution was found to be most suitable to raise either for the grafting ratio or the polymerization ratio. 2) Optimum temperature for better yield of graft copolymer was proved to he at while those of reaction time was to be hours.