The preparation of isotactic polyacrylonitrile using zeolite

Isotactic polyacrylonitrile (PAN) has been prepared by using a zeolite as a host. After introduction of acrylonitrile monomers, they were subsequently polymerized with radical initiators in Na–Y and Na–β zeolite channels, followed by extraction with hydrofluoric acid. 13C-NMR results show that the isotacticity of extracted PAN is higher than that of bulk PAN prepared under the same reaction conditions and is also affected by the pore structure of host. Thermal and physical properties of extracted PAN were also investigated using GPC, DSC and XRD.