Radiation-induced copolymerization of α,β,β-trifluoroacrylonitrile with α-olefin

Homopolymerization and copolymerization of α,β,β-trifluoroacrylonitrile (FAN) with α-olefins were carried out in bulk by γ-ray irradiation at 250C. FAN gives very small quantities of brown and greasy low molecular weight polymer. Cyano groups in FAN polymer were found to be readily hydrolyzed to acid amide groups in the atmosphere. FAN was found to copolymerize with ethylene, propylene, and isobutylene via a radical mechanism to form equimolar copolymers in a wide range of monomer compositions. The polymerization rate increases linearly with FAN fraction in the monomer mixture. These copolymers are also hydrolyzed in the atmosphere, and the hydrolysis proceeds with more difficulty for the copolymer with higher α-olefin. The reactivity ratios r1 (FAN) and r2 (α-olefin) were determined to be 0.01 and 0.12 for the FAN/ethylene copolymerization and 0.01 and 0.07 for the FAN/propylene copolymerization. These results confirm that an alternating copolymerization takes place in the FAN/α-olefin system