| Abstract: | We investigated the chemical fixation of carbon dioxide (CO 2) to a copolymer bearing epoxide and the application of the cyclic carbonate group containing copolymer to polymer blends. In the synthesis of poly(2‐oxo‐1,3‐dioxolane‐4‐yl)methyl methacrylate‐co‐styrene] poly(DOMA‐co‐St)] from the addition of CO 2 to poly(glycidyl methacrylate‐co‐styrene) poly(GMA‐co‐St)], quaternary ammonium salts showed good catalytic activity at mild reaction conditions. The CO 2 addition reaction followed pseudo first‐order kinetics with the concentration of poly(GMA‐co‐St). In order to expand the applications of the CO 2 fixed copolymer, polymer blends of this copolymer with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) or poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) were cast from N,N′‐dimethylformamide (DMF) solution. Miscibility of blends of poly(DOMA‐co‐St) with PMMA or PVC have been investigated both by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and visual inspection of the blends, and the blends were miscible over the whole composition ranges. The miscibility behaviors were also discussed in terms of FT‐IR spectra. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
