Synthesis and Characterization of Styrene-Isoprene Diblock Copolymers

A simple reusable apparatus for the synthesis of up to 40 g quantities of poly(styrene-b-isoprene) diblock copolymers of reasonably low (1.2 to 1.5) polydispersity has been described. The diblock copolymers synthesized were characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), membrane osmometry, viscosimetry, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Number-average molecular weights (M _n) calculated from the raw GPC chromatographs of the diblock copolymers using the summation method and M versus elution volume plots for polystyrene and polyisoprene standards agree well with those measured experimentally with osmometry. It is suggested that for polydisperse block copolymers this method is simpler than the use of a universal calibration curve. Mark-Houwink constants K ans a for polyisoprene having 18% (1,2-), 66% (3,4-), and 16% (1,4-) microstructure were found to be 3.2 × 10^?4 dL/g and 0.67, respectively, in THF at 25°C. In toluene at 30°C, K = 2.0 × 10^?4 dL/g and α = 0.7 were obtained. The diblock copolymers had 26% (1,2-), 60% (3,4-), and 14% (1,4-) microstructure in the isoprene segments, and the values of K and a for these copolymers (PS > 50%, M 20.0 × 10³) in THF at 25°C were 9.0 × 10^?5 dL/g and 0.75. For M < 20.0 × 10³ the value of α was 0.5. The experimental values of [η] were found to be lower than those calculated theoretically, presumably due to the polydisperse nature and the biellipsoidal configuration of the diblock copolymers.