New acrylic titanium polymers: 2. Synthesis and characterization of organotitanium polymers

In this second part, we examined two possibilities for the synthesis of new acrylic organotitanium polymers that could be of great interest in the field of self-polishing antifouling coatings: copolymerization of acrylic organotitanium monomers with methyl methacrylate via free-radical initiation in organic solvents, or esterification of the acid functions of an available acrylic polymer with titanium tetraalkoxide. When a stoichiometric molar ratio Ti/COOH was used, a gel was formed. An excess of titanium tetraalkoxide had to be used to obtain an esterified polymer which was soluble in the usual organic solvents. The lowest excess value varied according to the nature of the alkoxide, the concentration and the nature of the polymer. An interpretation of this behaviour is proposed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.