Synthesis and characterization of a soluble and starlike C-60(CH3)(x)(PAN)(x) copolymer

A novel starlike C-60(CH3)(x)(PAN)(x) copolymer was prepared by reaction of the living ''Butyl-terminated polyacrylonitrile (PAN) with C-60, followed by a capping reaction with methyl iodine. Multiple PAN arms are attached to the C-60 core. The characterization techniques employed are UV-vis, FT-IR, C-13 NMR, TGA, XRD, ESR and SEM. This starlike polymer has a visibly yellow cast when compared with the unfunctionalized polymer. The chemical and physical properties of this polymer depend largely on the concentrations of the fullerene covalently bound to the polymer matrix and on the chain-length of PAN units attached to a C-60 center. A qualitative comparison of the submicro-morphological structures of the copolymer and the pure ''Butyl-terminated poly-acrylonitrile is given. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.