Abstract
In this study, the chemical modification reaction of polystyrene (PS) with maleic anhydride (MA) in the presence of borontrifluoride (BF3) catalyst in chloroform was examined. The modified polystyrene containing (-COCH=CHCOOH) fragments in phenyl rings was characterized by IR and 1H-NMR spectroscopy. In addition, TGA, AFM analyses and contact-angles for polystyrene and the modified polystyrene were performed. The effects of polystyrene concentration, maleic anhydride concentration, catalyst concentration, solvent volume and temperature on the modification reaction were investigated by determining the amount of the carboxyl group fixed to the aromatic ring of polystyrene. Some kinetic parameters such as the reaction rate, the rate constant, the activation energy for the modification reaction were calculated. Keywords: polystyrene, maleic anhydride, chemical modification, reaction kinetics