Sodium poly(styrene sulfonate), NaPSS, is one of the most heavily used polyelectrolytes. It is usually produced by harsh sulfonation of polystyrene, an imperfect process. When some monomers resist sulfonation, the chain is left with hydrophobic “patches” that affect its performance and hinder its use as a model system for physicochemical investigations. Several methods have been developed to prepare “patchless” NaPSS from direct polymerization of styrene sulfonate monomer in water or aqueous mixtures, but they may suffer from poor control, limited molecular weight range, polydispersity or limited quantity of product. To address these problems, aqueous atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of styrene sulfonate monomer has been studied. Reaction variables included added salt, ATRP ligand and deactivator, alcoholic nonsolvent, ratio of catalyst to monomer, and pH. Size exclusion measurements with multiple angle light scattering detection showed molecular weights from ~20,000 to ~500,000 g/mol could be produced with polydispersity indices of 1.05 to 1.25.

Optimization of the aqueous ATRP synthesis of sodium poly(styrene sulfonate): Effect of reaction variables as assessed by SEC-MALS

254th National Meeting (2017)

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