Copolymers of Acrylonitrile with Some Brominated Acrylates

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Abstract
Acrylonitrile was copolymerized with 2,3-dibromopropyl acrylate, 2,4,6-tribromophenyl acrylate, or pentabromophenyl acrylate in either aqueous emulsion or dimethylformamide solutions with azobisisobutyronitrile as the free radical initiator. The thermal properties and the flammability characteristics of the resulting polymers were also investigated. The reactivity ratios of the monomers and the initial reaction rates for homopolymerization and copolymerization reactions in dimethylformamide were determined. The monomer reactivity ratios were found to depend slightly on the reaction medium; the reaction rates for both homo-polymerizations and copolymerizations increased in the order pentabromophenyl acrylate > 2,4,6-tribromophenyl acrylate > 2,3-dibromopropyl acrylate > acrylonitrile. Thermal stability measurements (determined from TGA and DTG) showed that poly(2,4,6-tribromophenyl acrylate) and its acrylonitrile copolymers were the most stable polymers and the copolymers of 2,3-dibromopropyl, acrylate with acrylonitrile had the best flame-retardant properties as was demonstrated by limiting oxygen index measurements.