Synthesis,characterization, and thermal properties of copolymers of behenyl acrylate and behenyl fumarate

Radical copolymerization of behenyl (systematic IUPAC nomenclature: n‐docosyl) acrylate and behenyl fumarate has been carried out in toluene at 70°C using benzoyl peroxide as initiator. Gel permeation chromatography was used to determine molecular weights (MW) and molecular weight distribution (MWD) of behenyl acrylate–behenyl fumarate (BA‐BF) copolymers. ¹H NMR and carbon analysis was used to determine the composition of BA‐BF copolymers. Monomer reactivity ratios for high conversion polymerization were calculated by conversion‐extended Kelen‐Tudos plot. Differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) measurements shows sharp melting peaks at about 64°C. Thermal stability studies were performed with thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). By using these DSC and TGA data in several nonisothermal methods, the activation energies were calculated. X‐ray diffraction studies show the linearity of the copolymers. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 2721–2726, 2003