Preparation of a blocked isocyanate compound and its grafting onto styrene-b-(ethylene-co-1-butene)-b-styrene triblock copolymer

The ε-caprolactam was used to block the isocyanate group to enhance the storage stability of allyl (3-isocyanate-4-tolyl) carbamate. The spectra of FTIR and NMR showed that blocked allyl (3-isocyanate-4-tolyl) carbamate (BTAI) possesses two chemical functions, an 1-olefin double bond and a blocked isocyanate group. The FTIR spectrum showed BTAI could regenerate isocyanate group at elevated temperature. DSC and TG/DTA indicated the minimal dissociation temperature was about 135 °C and the maximal dissociation rate appeared at 226 °C. Then the styrene-b-(ethylene-co-1-butene)-b-styrene triblock copolymer (SEBS) was functionalized by BTAI via melt free radical grafting. The effect of temperature, monomer and initiator concentrations on the grafting degree and grafting efficiency was evaluated. The highest grafting degree was obtained at 200 °C. The grafting degree and grafting efficiency increased with the enhanced concentration of BTAI or initiator. The weight-average molecular weight (Mw) increased greatly at higher initiator concentration and lower ratio of the monomer/initiator. And the molecule weight distribution (MWD) of the modified SEBS became wider than that of pure SEBS. It is obvious that shearing thinning behavior of grafted SEBS is more profound than pure SEBS.