Synthesis and characterization of ethylene-xylene-based polysulfide block-copolymers using the interfacial polymerization method

Copolymers of linear and aromatic polysulfide blocks are synthesized using interfacial polymerization of dichloro-xylene-based aromatic and ethylene-dichloride-based non-aromatic organic monomers. Synthesized copolymers consist of poly(ethylene sulfide) as well as ploy (xylene sulfide) blocks. Fascinating properties of linear and aromatic polysulfide species are gathered in the structure of synthesized polysulfide copolymers. Ethylene dichloride and α,α′-dichloro-p-xylene are used as the non-aromatic and aromatic organic monomers, respectively. To investigate the influences of sulfur contents in the backbone of the polymer on the thermal stability of synthesized copolymers, poly(ethylene-xylene disulfide) (PEXDS), poly(ethylene-xylene trisulfide) (PEXTRS) and poly(ethylene-xylene tetrasulfide) (PEXTS) copolymers are synthesized using, respectively, sodium disulfide, sodium trisulfide and sodium tetrasulfide, as aqueous monomers. Compared to both linear and nonlinear homopolymers, synthesized copolymers exhibit improved thermal stability. Moreover, the thermal degradation temperatures of synthesized copolymers improve by decreasing the number of sulfur atoms in the backbone of copolymers. These results reveal that thermal degradation of polysulfide copolymers can be tailored by controlling the polysulfide chain’s sulfur contents. Structural characteristics of synthesized polysulfide copolymers are also investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis.