| In this thesis, I have produced low polydispersity polymers of poly(chloromethylstyrene) and polyvinylphenol. Modification reactions for both polymers were attempted and were successful for only poly(chloromethylstyrene) as conditions in our experiments produced insoluble polymer salts using polyvinylphenol. A set of modified polymers were produced using a low polydisperse poly(chloromethylstyrene) as we believe that polymers with PDIs < 1.4 will be preferable for use in an eventual solar cell device. Finally a set of experiments were completed to determine the conditions to minimize the PDI of poly(chloromethylstyrene) and found that the main variable was maximizing the amount of 3-chloromethylstyrene with respect to 4-chloromethylstyrene in a polymerization. This result has lead us to believe that 3-chloromethylstyrene is less prone to transfer reactions, which in turn leads to smaller PDI values. |
