SK33803 – Polymer Chemistry and Technology [Assignment 1]
2019/2020 (2)
Concept – Individual assignment
Question 1
The monomer bisphenol A is made by the following reaction. Suggest a detailed mechanism.
Question 2
An acidic resin can be made by the polymerization of 4-vinylpyridine initiated by AlBN and heat
followed by treatment of the polymer with bromoacetate. Explain what is happening and give a
representative part structure of the acidic resin.
Question 3
What is a block co-polymer? What polymer would be produced by this sequence of reactions? What
special physical properties would it have?
Question 4
Why does polymerization occur only at relatively low temperatures often below 200 °C? What
occurs at higher temperatures? Formaldehyde polymerizes only below about 100 °C but ethylene
still polymerizes up to about 500 °C. Why the difference?
Question 5
Draw the structure of two (2) conjugated polymers of your choice, one with a degenerate ground
state and the other with a non-degenerate ground state. How can you distinguish between polarons
and bipolarons with optical spectroscopy?
Question 6
How can plastic become conductive and explain five (5) reasons will affect the conductivity?
-Due date 5.8.2020