International Journal of Chemistry and Material Science Vol. 1(8), pp. 201-209, August, 2013 ISSN 2327-5553 ©2013 Academe Research Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Synthesis, characterization and kinetics studies of block copolymer consisting of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone and propylene oxide catalysed by Maghnite-H⁺ (Algerian MMT)

Bendaho Djelloul, Rahmouni Abdelkader*, Ferrahi Mohammed Issam and Belbachir Mohammed

Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry, Départment of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Oran University, BP 1524.El M’nouar 31000 Oran, Algeria.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: ramaek23@yahoo.fr. Tel: +213773157287.

Accepted 1 August, 2013

Abstract

Poly (N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (PVP) is widely used in medicine due to its high biocompatibility, but Poly (propylene oxide), due to its amorphous nature, retains its flexibility at low temperatures and is impermeable to air, though hydrocarbons is a useful material in a number of applications. In this study, propylene oxide copolymerized with N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone was targeted, which would combine the advantages of propylene oxide and N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone to broaden the field of application, and the purpose of this paper is to study the cationic copolymerization of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone with propylene oxide by a montmorillonite clay called Maghnite-H⁺ (Algerian MMT). This new non-toxic cationic catalyst exhibited higher efficiency via the polymerization of vinylic and heterocyclic monomers. Maghnite-H⁺ can be easily separated from the polymer product and regenerated by heating to a temperature above 100°C. The effect of some factors such as the amount of the catalyst (Maghnite-H⁺), the temperature of reaction and the solvent were discussed.

Key words: Maghnite, vinyl monomers, ring opening polymerization, block copolymers, N-Vinyl-2-pyrrolidone, propylene oxide, ¹H NMR, FTIR.