Synthesis, thermal degradation, and solution behavior of star-shaped fullerene-containing polystyrenes

Star-shaped polymers with C-60 fullerene as a core and polystyrene chains with preset molecular masses as arms were synthesized by anionic polymerization. It was shown that it is possible to regulate the number of arms by varying the molar ratio of reagents (polystyryllithium : fullerene) and introducing a complex-forming agent. The quantitative data on the mobility and hydrodynamic sizes of macromolecules were obtained. The experimental results are compared with the calculated data on the hydrodynamic radii of macromolecules with spherically-symmetric distribution of the vectors of polystyrene arms. The degree of branching was estimated by comparison of the diffusion coefficients for the real star-shaped macromolecule and its linear analog. It was discovered that the intensity of light scattering plotted versus concentration in solutions shows an abnormal pattern.