Application of radiotracer techniques to polymer characterization

Abstract

A method for labeling the functional groups in polymers has been developed. This method converts the COOH (or OH) groups to a radioactive ester which is easier to characterize by GPC than the parent polymer. The method is more sensitive than classical analysis and gives functionality distribution in addition to total functionality. Applications of the method are given for polymers of acrylic acid and vinyl alcohol and liquid epoxy resin. Radiotracer techniques have been also used to confirm structure of bisphenol A epoxies by using 14C labeled bisphenol A.