Grafting polymers onto carbon black surface by trapping polymer radicals

Polystyrene, poly(styrene-co-maleic anhydride), poly[styrene-co-(4-vinylpyridine)] and poly(4-vinylpyridine) with well-defined molecular weights and polydispersities were synthesized using 4-hydroxyl-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-oxyl (HTEMPO)-mediated radical polymerization initiated by azobisisobutyronitrile or benzoyl peroxide. The resultant polymers were grafted onto carbon black surface through a radical trapping reaction at 130 °C in DMF. 1H NMR, TGA, TEM, AFM, DSC and dynamic light scattering were used to characterize the carbon black grafted with polymers. It was found that the carbon black grafted with polystyrene and poly(styrene-co-maleic anhydride) could be dispersed in THF, chloroform, dichloromethane, DMF, etc., and the carbon black grafted with poly(4-vinylpyridine) and poly[styrene-co-(4-vinylpyridine)] could be well dispersed in ethanol.