Performance of dimethyl dioxirane/nano-TiO2 on epoxidation of polybutadiene and hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene
Journal of Elastomers & Plastics
Published online on October 18, 2012
Abstract
Polybutadiene and hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) were epoxidized using in situ-generated dimethyl dioxirane (DMD) as an oxidant in the presence of nano-TiO2 at 25°C. Reaction time and different percentages of catalyst/Oxone® (w/w) were also examined. The capability of different kinds of double bonds to be epoxidized was studied in detail at various reaction times, and the products were characterized using nuclear magnetic resonance (1HNMR), 13CNMR, and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) techniques, with no side reaction being detected. The results indicate that using nano-TiO2 as a catalyst increases the epoxidation yield, especially of cis double bonds.