Ring-Opening Polymerization of Glycidyl Phenyl Ether Initiated by Tetra n-butylammonium Halides as Metal-Free Initiators and Application of Its Polymer System to Networked Polymers

Abstract

The ring-opening polymerization of glycidyl phenyl ether (GPE) and an epoxy curing reaction of bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE) were performed with metal-free tetra-n-butylammonium halides (TBAX); the anions included fluoride, chloride, bromide, and iodide. We compared the extent of polymerization achieved as a result of using different TBAX as initiators. The comparison revealed that tetra-n-butylammonium fluoride (TBAF) was the most efficient initiator for both the polymerization of GPE and the epoxy curing reaction of BADGE.