Polyisobutylene (PIB) has become an essential player in a wide variety of application areas due to its unique properties. Thus much attention has been paid to develop novel manufacture processes and initiating systems in this field. Recently our group has established several initiation systems for the synthesis of high molecular weight PIB (HPIB). An Al(C6F5)3/CumCl initiating system coupling with an electron donor is able to polymerize IB into HPIB with Mw over 35×104 g/mol with high activity at -40°C. Additionally, by simply compounding Al(C6F5)3 and various substituted phenols, a series of novel complexed catalyst systems was prepared to synthesize HPIB with adjustable MW (100,000–300,000 g/mol) within an even higher temperature window (-30 to 0 °C). Furthermore, copolymerizations of IB and distinct methyl styrenes were realized by utilizing the initiating systems mentioned above. A class of excellent ionic elastomers can be prepared via simply bromination and quaternization of the obtained copolymers. The self-aggregation of polar ionic groups promotes microphase separation to significantly enhance the mechanical properties (tensile strength up to 13 MPa and breaking elongation up to 1100%). To our delight, such high-performance materials can be facile to recycle via hot pressing while maintaining their properties. In summary, we have explored several novel initiating systems for the synthesis of HPIBs and copolymers under mild conditions. Polymer ionization has proved to be an effective method to improve the mechanical properties of materials.

Synthesis of high molecular weight polyisobutylene and relevant ionic elastomer

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ACS Fall 2022

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