Synthesis, Characterization, Thermal, Refractive and Di Electric Studies of BIS (1-Oxododecyl) Peroxide Initiated Copolymers of Methacrylonitrile-Methyl Methacrylate

Copolymer of Methacrylonitrile (MAN) with Methyl methacrylate (MMA) was synthesized by free radical polymerization method by using bis (1-oxododecyl) peroxide as initiator in dimethylformamide (DMF) at 600C. The copolymer samples were characterized by FTIR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and dielectric studies. The monomer reactivity ratio was computed both by Fineman-Ross (F-R) and Kelen-Tudos (K-T) methods. The reactivity ratio values revealed the formation of random copolymers. The formation of random copolymer was also supported by azeotropic composition evaluation method. The dielectric constant () of methacrylonitrile-methyl methacrylate (MAN-MMA) copolymers was found to dependent both on temperature and frequency. The increase in dielectric loss (tand) with temperature is attributed to formation of more dipoles at higher temperatures. The Refractive index and molar refractivity and Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) of the copolymers was also reported. The appearance of absorption bands corresponding to greater thanC=O, -OCH3 and -CN groups and the vanishing of absorption bands corresponding to olefinic bond conforms the formation of MAN-MMA copolymer.