Synthesis and characterization of semi- and full-interpenetrating polymer networks of poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) and polydimethylsiloxane

The synthesis and characterization of pseudo or semi- and full-interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) of poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) and polydimethylsiloxane were performed. We observed that in full IPNs, the elasticity of the IPN samples increased very drastically, as the composition of polydimethylsiloxane increased (i.e. 0–60%) while the tensile strength (TS) and the glass transition temperature (T_g) decreases. The pseudo IPNs appeared to consist of two phases while the full IPNs of lower siloxane content were miscible.