Synthesis and characterization of poly(vinyl acetate peroxide)

Poly(vinyl acetate peroxide) (PVACP) was prepared from vinyl acetate by free-radicalinitiated oxidative polymerization. The polyperoxide was isolated and characterized by different spectroscopic methods. The extreme instability of PVACP was demonstrated by FTIR spectroscopy. The 1H-and 13C-NMR studies show the irregularities in the polyperoxide chain due to the cleavage reactions of the propagating peroxide radical. Thermal degradation studies using differential scanning calorimetry revealed that PVACP degrades at a lower temperature and the heat of degradation is in the same range as reported for other vinyl polyperoxides