| Abstract: | Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)–polyamide multiblock copolymers were successfully synthesized via diisocyanate route by two different procedures, i.e., the one-step and two-step methods, In the two-step method, α, ω-diisocyanate-terminated polyamide oligomers, which were prepared in situ from a mixture of isophthalic acid (IPA) and azelaic acid (AZA) with 4,4′-methylenedi (phenyl isocyanate) (MDI) in 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidone (DMI) in the presence of 3-methyl-1-phenyl-2-phosopholene 1-oxide catalyst, were reacted with α, ω-bis (10-carboxydecyl) polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS-diacid) leading to the formation of multiblock copolymers. In the one-step method, the reaction components, MDI, IPA, AZA, and PDMS-diacid were reacted all together in DMI in the presence of the catalyst. These polymerizations gave multiblock copolymers having inherent viscosities in the range of 0.36–1.12 dL/g in N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc). These multiblock copolymers were soluble in amide-type solvents, and transparent (or translucent) and ductile films could be cast from the solutions in a mixture of DMAc and bis(2-ethoxyethyl) ether. The multiblock copolymers prepared by the two-step method had better-defined, microphase-separated morphology than those obtained by the one-step method. The mechanical properties of PDMS–polyamide multiblock copolymer films were found to be highly dependent on the PDMS content; the tensile strength and modulus of the films decreased with increasing the PDMS content. |
