Plasticization of a poly(ethyl acrylate) ionomer by an alkyl aniline

The plasticization by 4-decylaniline (4DA) of a microphase-separated poly(ethyl acrylate) ionomer containing sodium carboxylate groups is examined. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, supplemented by differential scanning calorimetry, shows that the matrix and cluster glass transitions (T_g's) in the ionomer are both depressed by ca. 1°C/wt % 4DA; this, in turn, is similar to the T_g depression in the blend of the parent poly(ethyl acrylate) (PEA) with 4DA. There is no evidence of 4DA crystallinity in the blend. Small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements show that the ionomer peak increases in intensity and decreases in scattering angle with increasing concentration of 4DA in the blend; the corresponding Bragg spacing, initially at 2.3 nm, increases by ca. 0.04 nm/wt % 4DA. These results, supported by preliminary spectroscopic measurements, are attributed to hydrogen bonding interactions between the amine groups of 4DA and the ester groups in PEA and the ionomer, rendering the blend miscible. It is argued that the uniform distribution of 4DA throughout the material plasticizes both phases of the ionomer by adding free volume; this also accounts for the increase in the characteristic spacing detected by SAXS.