Synthesis, characterization, thermal and electrochemical properties of poly (phenoxy-imine)s containing benzothiazole unit

In this study, Schiff bases (SCH-1 and SCH-2) were synthesized from the condensation reaction of 2-aminobenzothiazole with 3-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde and 3-hydroxy-4-ethoxybenzaldehyde. Poly(phenoxy-imine)s were synthesized from Schiff bases via oxidative polycondensation by NaOCl (6-14% aqueous solution) as oxidant in alkaline medium and H2O2 (35% aqueous solution) as oxidant in THF medium. The structures characterizations of Schiff bases and poly(phenoxy-imine)s were confirmed by FT-IR, 1H and 13C NMR, CV, UV-Vis and TGA analyses. Limit oxygen index (LOI) and the heat resistance index (THRI) temperature were determined from thermogravimetric measurements of compounds. P-SCH-2-A showed the highest LOI as 45.50 with self-extinguishing according to other polymers (18-30). The optical band gap of P-SCH-2-A was determined to be 1.99 eV. Additionally, the optical band gap energy of compounds were calculated by using the Tauc method. According to the Tauc method, the optical band gap (Eg) value of P-SCH-2-A was calculated to be 2.20 eV. The glass transition temperatures (Tg) and surface properties of poly(phenoxy-imine)s were determined from DSC and SEM analyses, respectively. The weight average molecular weight (Mw) values of P-SCH-1-O, P-SCH-2-O, P-SCH-1-A and P-SCH-2-A were calculated to be 7400, 8400, 3100 and 19,100 g mol-1 from gel permeation chromatography (GPC) measurements.