Abstract: Terpolymerization of glycidyl octanoate, carbon oxide with propylene oxide was carried out using ternary rare-earth-metal coordination catalyst. IR, NMR and DSC results confirmed the resulting polymer was a novel terpolymer. The glass transition temperature of resulting terpolymer decreased with increasing flexible glycidyl octanoate units, whereas the elongation at break increased rapidly. Introduction of 5.6% glycidyl octanoate unit into the terpolymer may raise the elongation at break to 481.1%, whereas the tensile strength maintained as high as 24.9MPa.

Key words: Carbon dioxide, Propylene oxide, Glycidyl octanoate, Ternary rare-earth-metal coordination catalyst, Terpolymerization