CONFORMATIONAL TRANSITION IN POLY(P-TERT-BUTYLSTYRENE)

The authors have been studying dilute solution properties of poly(p-tert-butylstyrene) (PTBS). In this work, the variation of intrinsic viscosity and refractive index increment with temperature for PTBS in good solvents have been studied. For PTBS, the variation of intrinsic viscosity and refractive index increment with temperature shows a discontinuity in the range 20-30°C. For PTBS at low temperatures, the repulsive interactions between bulky side groups probably cause a rather rigid and perhaps helicoidal structure. Above the transition temperature, rotation around single bonds becomes easier and the rigidity of some parts of chain backbone disappears.