Grafting of Butadiene–Acrylonitrile Copolymer onto High Vinyl Polybutadiene by Copolymerization

High vinyl polybutadiene-graft-(hydroxyl-terminated butadiene–acrylonitrile copolymer) (HVPBR-g-HTBN) was successfully synthesized through the copolymerization of butadiene and HTBN using a molybdenum (Mo)-based catalyst. The results indicated that the grafting coefficient of the product was <1 and the nitrogen content of the product was higher than that of linear HVPBR, demonstrating the grafting during the copolymerization by the Mo-based catalyst. Upon grafting, the intrinsic viscosity of the product's solution was lower, while the molecular weight was higher than that of linear HVPBR. Moreover, the apparent viscosities of concentrated solutions of grafted products were lower than the linear counterpart, despite their higher molecular weight.