Abstract: Poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), thanks to its versatile properties, finds many applications ranging from water purification membranes (thermal and chemical stability) to electronic devices (piezoelectric, pyroelectric and ferroelectric properties). Block copolymers of PVDF with other polymers further expand its properties and, consequently, its applications.
Toward this line, my thesis investigates the synthesis, molecular characterization and properties of novel PVDF-based copolymers mainly with poly(tert-butyl acrylate) (PtBuA), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and polystyrene (PSt). To prepare the block copolymers a living polymerization is needed, which is compatible with the VDF and the comonomer (tBuA, MMA, St). For this purpose, we used iodine transfer polymerization (ITP) with the difunctional chain transfer agent (CTA) C4F8I2. Difunctional macroinitiator (I-PVDF-I) was first obtained by ITP of VDF monomer with C4F8I2, followed by addition of the comonomer tBuA, MMA or St to afford the triblock copolymers poly(tert-butyl acrylate)-block-poly(vinylidene fluoride)-block-poly(tert-butyl acrylate) (PtBuA-b-PVDF-b-PtBuA), poly(methyl methacrylate)-block-poly(vinylidene fluoride)-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA-b-PVDF-b-PMMA) and polystyrene-block-poly(vinylidene fluoride)-block-polystyrene (PSt-b-PVDF-b-PSt). The structure of all intermediates and final products were characterized by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC). The microstructure and polymorphism of all triblock copolymers, characterized by XRD, shown that the PVDF in the first two copolymers exhibits the electroactive β-phase, while in the third copolymer there is the coexistence of α- and γ-phases. Linear PVDF homopolymers, using the free radical and IT polymerizations, were prepared for comparison purposes. All linear polymers possess the α-phase.
The thesis is divided into the following five chapters: 1. Introduction, where the scope of this thesis is given with a brief background on PVDF; 2. Literature Review, where a summary of previously published works on PVDF synthesis and polymorphism is presented; 3. Experimental Section, where detailed procedures and characterization methods are given; 4. Results and Discussion, where outcomes of successful experiments are discussed; and 5. Conclusion and Perspective, where the outcomes of this work are summarized and perspective are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:kaust.edu.sa/oai:repository.kaust.edu.sa:10754/664140 |
| Date | 07 1900 |
| Creators | Alsubhi, Abdulaziz |
| Contributors | Hadjichristidis, Nikos, Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Division, Pinnau, Ingo, Nunes, Suzana Pereira |
| Source Sets | King Abdullah University of Science and Technology |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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