Synthesis and a simple molecular weight determination of polystyrene

Polymers and Material Science: A Course for Nonscience Majors

“…The mechanism of chain polymerization is described and examples of initiators, monomers, and polymers are shown. Students do a two-hour lab in which polystyrene is synthesized and reverse-phase thin-layer chromatography is used to look at the distribution of molecular weights (5). If a gel permeation chromatograph is available, students can inject their polymers onto a GPC column to get a more complete description of the molecular weight distribution.…”

“…His students seemed satisfied with the two texts, but many suggested that the initial assignments should be made from CiC. In a similar experiment, which is part of a broader curriculum revision, Wil Stratton and his colleagues at Earlham College are using CiC plus a custom printing of selected chapters from General Chemistry by Kask and Rawn (5) in their science majors course. Stanley Bernstein is using tha same books in his course at Antioch College.…”