Synthesis of Polytetrahydrofuran Using Protonated Kaolin as A Solid Acid Catalyst

In this work, a non-toxic protonated kaolin clay exchanged with protons, was successfully applied as a solid acid catalyst for the polymerization of polytetrahydrofuran (poly(THF)) at room temperature in the presence of acetic anhydride. Prior to using the kaolin as a catalyst, it was treated with HCl (0.1 M) and characterized using various analytical techniques. The amounts of catalyst and reaction time on the conversion of THF were investigated. Characterizations of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H-NMR), Fourier Transform Infra Red (FT-IR), X-ray Difraction (XRD), OM, and DSC techniques were used to examine the resulting polymer. The results show that the conversion rate of THF reaches 50.02% after 20 hours. From the X-ray characterization and DSC data indicated that the obtained poly(THF) is a highly crystalline substance.