Molecule-Design, Preparation, Modification And Properties Of Hyperbranched Poly(Phenylene Oxide)

Since the first intentional preparation of hyperbranched polymer was carried out in DuPont and warranted as a patent in 1987, it has been well developed on fundamental and applied studies due to its unique properties and potential for useful applications. Today, the filed of hyperbranched polymers is still extremely active, and new developments involving hyperbranched polymers appeared recently, for example, formation of new and more complex structures, different synthetic strategies, and intensive studies on the controlled polymerization and terminal functional modification due to the importance of molecular weight (MW), polydispersity (PD), degree of branching (DB) and terminal groups on their properties and applications. Now many hyperbranched poly(arylene ether)s have been reported, such as poly(ether sulfone), poly(ether ketone), poly(ether imide) etc. Linear poly(phenylene oxide) is a well-known and useful high-performance polymer material, but its hyperbranched variants have been rarely reported. All the hyperbarnched poly(phenylene oxide) (HPPO) reported have terminal aryl bromo groups, and lack adaptability toward structural variation.Based on the development tendency of hyperbranched polymers and the former relevant studies, this work explored the preparation and terminal modification of a new HPPO containing triphenylene methylidyne groups in every repeat unit and modifiable phenolic terminal groups for the possible applications in antioxidants and other fields, and the effects of reaction time and core molecules on the MW and PD, plus the difference on the DB and thermal properties between simple HPPO from the AB₂ monomer and HPPOs with core molecules incorporated. Based on the facile...