Thermal stability and high glass transition temperature of 4-chloromethyl styrene polymers bearing carbazolyl moieties

A new styrene derivative monomer, 4-(N-carbazolyl)methyl styrene (CzMS), was synthesized by reacting 4-chloromethyl styrene with carbazole in the presence of sodium hydride. Then, CzMS was homopolymerized and copolymerized with different monomers such as methyl methacrylate (MMA), ethyl methacrylate (EMA), methyl acrylate (MA), ethyl acrylate (EA) and n-butyl acrylate (BA) by free radical polymerization method in N,N-di-methylformamide (DMF) solution at 70 ± 1 °C using azobisisobutyronitrile initiator to give the copolymers I–V in good yields. The structure of all the resulted polymers was characterized and confirmed by FT-IR, 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectroscopic techniques. The average molecular weight and glass transition temperature of polymers were determined using gel permeation chromatograph (GPC) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) instruments, respectively. It was found that these polymers with carbazole moieties have high thermal stability and the presence of bulk carbazole groups in polymer side chains leads to an increase in the rigidity and glass transition temperature of polymers.