Mechanical properties of blends of PAMAM dendrimers with poly(vinyl chloride) and poly(vinyl acetate)

Hybrid blends of poly(amidoamine) PAMAM dendrimers with two linear high polymers, poly(vinyl chloride), PVC, and poly(vinyl acetate), PVAc, are reported. The interaction between the blend components was studied using dynamic mechanical analysis, xenon nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and tensile property measurements. The data suggest a much higher degree of interaction between components of PVAc-containing blends compared to those containing PVC. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 36: 2111–2117, 1998     

Viscometric study of poly(vinyl chloride)/poly(vinyl acetate) blends in various solvents

The intermolecular interactions between poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) in tetrahydrofuran (THF), methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and N,N^′-dimethylformamide (DMF) were thoroughly investigated by the viscosity measurement. It has been found that the solvent selected has a great influence upon the polymer-polymer interactions in solution. If using PVAc and THF, or PVAc and DMF to form polymer solvent, the intrinsic viscosity of PVC in polymer solvent of (PVAc+THF) or (PVAc+DMF) is less than in corresponding pure solvent of THF or DMF. On the contrary, if using PVAc and MEK to form polymer solvent, the intrinsic viscosity of PVC in polymer solvent of (PVAc+MEK) is larger than in pure solvent of MEK. The influence of solvent upon the polymer-polymer interactions also comes from the interaction parameter term Δb, developed from modified Krigbaum and Wall theory. If PVC/PVAc blends with the weight ratio of 1/1 was dissolved in THF or DMF, Δb<0. On the contrary, if PVC/PVAc blends with the same weight ratio was dissolved in MEK, Δb>0. These experimental results show that the compatibility of PVC/PVAc blends is greatly associated with the solvent from which polymer mixtures were cast. The agreement of these results with differential scanning calorimetry measurements of PVC/PVAc blends casting from different solvents is good.     

The miscibility of poly(vinyl alcohol)/poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) blends investigated in dilute solutions and solids

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) (polymer A) and poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) (polymer B) are known to form a thermodynamically miscible pair. In the present study the conclusion on miscibility of PVA/PVP solid blends, confirmed qualitatively (DMTA, FTIR) and quantitatively (DSC, χ_AB = − 0.69 at 503 K) is compared with the miscibility investigations of PVA/PVP solution blends by the technique of dilute solution viscometry. The miscibility of the ternary (polymer A/ polymer B/ solvent) system is estimated on the basis of experimental and ideal values of the viscosity parameters k, b and [η]. It is found that the conclusions on miscibility or nonmiscibility drawn from viscosity measurements in dilute solution blends depend: (i) on the applied extrapolation method used for the determination of the viscosity interaction parameters, (ii) on the assumed definition of the ideal values and (iii) on the thermodynamic quality of the solvent, which in the case of PVA depends on its degree of hydrolysis. Hence, viscometric investigations of dilute PVA/PVP solution blends have revealed that viscometry, widely used in the literature for estimation of polymer-polymer miscibility can not be recommended as a sole method to presume the miscibility of a polymer pair.     

Thermo-oxidative dehydrochlorination of rigid and plasticised poly(vinyl chloride)/poly(methyl methacrylate) blends

The aim of this work was to study the thermo-oxidative dehydrochlorination of rigid and plasticised poly(vinyl chloride)/poly(methyl methacrylate) blends. For that purpose, blends of variable compositions from 0 to 100 wt% were prepared in the presence (15, 30 and 50 wt%) and in the absence of diethyl-2-hexyl phthalate as plasticiser. Their miscibility was investigated by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Their thermo-oxidative degradation at 180 ± 1 °C was studied and the amount of HCl released from PVC was measured by a continuous potentiometric method. Degraded samples were characterised, after purification, by FTIR spectroscopy and UV-visible spectroscopy. The results showed that the two polymers are miscible up to 60 wt% of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). This miscibility is due to a specific interaction of hydrogen bonding type between carbonyl groups (CO) of PMMA and hydrogen (CHCl) groups of PVC as shown by FTIR analysis. On the other hand, PMMA exerted a stabilizing effect on the thermal degradation of PVC by reducing the zip dehydrochlorination, leading to the formation of shorter polyenes.     

Reaction-induced miscibility in blends comprised of bisphenol-A polycarbonate and poly(trimethylene terephthalate)

The inherent miscibility and effects of reaction-induced changes on the phase behaviour of blends of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) with bisphenol-A polycarbonate (PC) were studied. The as-prepared (solution-cast) blends exhibited two well-spaced and separated glass transition temperatures (T_gs) and a heterogeneous phase-separated morphology, indicating an immiscible system. However, after annealing at high temperature (at 260 °C), the blends original two T_gs merged into one single T_g, and the annealed blends exhibited a homogeneous morphology, and turned from having a semicrystalline into having an amorphous nature upon extended annealing. The annealing-induced changes of phase behaviour in the blends were analyzed. The homogenization process of the blends upon heating is attributed to chemical transreactions between the PTT and PC chain segments, as evidenced with FT-IR characterization. The IR result showed a new aryl C-O vibration peak at 1,070 cm^–1 for the annealed blends, which is characteristic of an aromatic polyester structure formed from exchange reactions between PTT and PC. The transreactions between PTT and PC led to a random copolymer comprised of PC/PTT segments, which is believed to serve as a compatibilizer at the beginning stage of transreactions, but at later stage, the random copolymer became the main species of blends and turned to a homogeneous and amorphous phase.     

Heat of mixing in polymer blends based on poly(vinyl acetate)

Knowledge of the heat of mixing is very important in order to evaluate the interaction parameter, according to the Patterson theory. In this work we illustrate the results regarding some polymer blends, based on poly(vinyl acetate) and some polyacrylates with different substituent groups. In this way it is possible to understand the effect of the lateral group hindrance, as it will be illustrated in the paper.     

Thermal and photochemical stability of poly(methyl methacrylate) and its blends with poly(vinyl acetate)

An investigation of the thermal stability of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) blends with poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) revealed that PVAc acts as a stabilizer as concerns thermal and photochemical degradation when the processes take place in air. The temperatures of decomposition of these blends are higher than that of pure PMMA. The efficiency of photodegradation and photooxidation in the blends is lower than that of pure PMMA.     

Study on miscibility of poly(vinyl chloride) and polyepichlorohydrin by viscometric and thermal analysis

Viscometric analysis was carried out to study the miscibility of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and polyepichlorohydrin (PECH) in various solvents, tetrahydrofuran (THF), methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and dimethylformamide (DMF). The Krigbaum–Wall criterion is used here to evaluate the miscibility of the two components, and Δb is introduced which can be calculated from the viscosity curves. The results show that their attractive forces are predominant when dissolved in THF, while in MEK and DMF repulsive forces play a leading role. This is attributed to different solubilities of the two polymers in the three solvents and to different influences of the solvents on the conformation of the polymers. Thermal measurement was performed by differential scanning calorimetry to investigate the glass transition temperature (T_g) of the blends prepared from the three solvents. Phase separation is observed for the samples made from MEK and DMF, while for THF the sample exhibits a single phase.     

Long branching in poly(vinyl acetate) and poly(vinyl alcohol). II. Polymerization of vinyl acetate in the presence of crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol)

It is a common view that poly(vinyl acetate) has many branches at the acetyl side group, but that the corresponding poly(vinyl alcohol) has little branching. In order to study the branching in poly(vinyl acetate) and poly(vinyl alcohol) which is formed by chain transfer to polymer, the polymerization of ¹⁴C-labeled vinyl acetate in the presence of crosslinked poly(vinyl acetate), which was able to be decrosslinked to give soluble polymers, was investigated at 60°C and 0°C. This system made it possible to separate as well as to distinguish the graft polymer from the newly polymerized homopolymer. Furthermore, the degree of grafting onto the acetoxymethyl group and onto the main chain were estimated. It became clear that, in the polymerization of vinyl acetate, chain transfer to the polymer main chain takes place about 2.4 times as frequently at 60°C as that to the acetoxy group and about 4.8 times as frequently at 0°C.     

The role of hydrogen-bonding interaction in poly(vinyl alcohol)/poly(acrylic acid) blending solutions and their films

<正>The aim of this work is to investigate the hydrogen-bonding interaction in poly(vinyl alcohol)(PVA)/poly(acrylic acid)(PAA) blending system and its influence on rheological properties in solution and the physical properties in solid state. Introducing PAA into PVA solutions resulted in a thickening behavior of blend solutions.The viscosity of the solutions increased with PAA content increasing,and a maximum viscosity could be obtained when the ratio of PVA/PAA was 70/30. The intermolecular hydrogen-bonding and miscibility between PVA and PAA in solid state were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry(DSC),Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR) and mechanical measurements.The results displayed the great influence of introducing PAA on the properties of blending films.The tensile strength increased from 89.31 MPa to 119.8 MPa and Young's modulus improved by over 300%with increasing PAA concentration compared with those of pure PVA films.By systematically studying the rheological behaviors of solutions and the physical properties of films,the influence of hydrogen-bonding in solutions and solid states were discussed.     

Prediction of miscibility regions in ternary blends of poly(styrene-stat-acrylonitrile), poly(acrylonitrile-stat-methyl methacrylate), and poly(styrene-stat-methyl methacrylate)

The miscibilities of ternary copolymer blends prepared from poly(styrene-stat-acrylonitrile), poly(styrene-stat-methyl methacrylate), and poly(methyl methacrylate-stat-acrylonitrile) were predicted by calculating the interaction parameter, χ_blend, for various blend combinations, from the corresponding binary segmental interaction parameters estimated from previous work. Binodal and spinodal curves were calculated using the Flory-Huggins theory and it was observed that the most accurate estimate of the boundary between miscible and immiscible blends was given by the spinodal. It has also been demonstrated that in some of the ternary blends with fixed copolymer compositions the miscibility of the blend can be altered by changing the ratio of the three components in the mixture. Conditions for miscibility in this ternary system, and possibly a general feature of all such systems, are (a) that at least two of the binary interaction parameters χ_ij are less than the critical value χ_crit, while the third should not be too much larger, that is, one of the copolymers may act as a compatibilizer for the other two copolymers, (b) that the difference Δχ = /χ₁₂ ? χ₁₃/ is small. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Transition from miscibility to immiscibility in blends of poly(methyl methacrylate) and styrene-acrylonitrile copolymers with varying copolymer composition: a DSC study

The glass transition and the structural relaxation processes have been studied in blends of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN) copolymers with different acrylonitrile (AN) contents. The 50/50 wt.% blend of PMMA with the SAN copolymer containing 30 wt.% of AN is immiscible, while blends with copolymers containing between 13 and 26 wt.% of AN are miscible. Thus the upper limit of miscibility is between 26 and 30 wt.% of AN. The temperature dependence of the relaxation times of the conformational rearrangements of polymer chains around the glass transition have been determined in the blends and pure components by modelling DSC thermograms obtained after different thermal histories in each sample. The slope in the Arrhenius diagram logτ vs 1/T around the glass transition temperature is significantly smaller in the blend which is closer to the upper limit of miscibility than in the other miscible blends in which SAN copolymer contains less AN. The change of slope can be ascribed to a distribution in the glass transition temperatures of the different rearranging regions, reflecting the appearance of a microheterogeneity in the blend that cannot be detected as a double glass transition in the blend.     

pH effects on the complexation, miscibility and radiation-induced crosslinking in poly(acrylic acid)-poly(vinyl alcohol) blends

The effect of pH on the complexation of poly(acrylic acid) with poly(vinyl alcohol) in aqueous solution, the miscibility of these polymers in the solid state and the possibility for crosslinking the blends using gamma radiation has been studied. It is demonstrated that the complexation ability of poly(vinyl alcohol) with respect to poly(acrylic acid) is relatively low in comparison with some other synthetic non-ionic polymers. The precipitation of interpolymer complexes was observed below the critical pH of complexation (pH(crit1)), which characterizes the transition between a compact hydrophobic polycomplex and an extended hydrophilic interpolymer associate. Films prepared by casting from aqueous solutions at different pH values exhibited a transition from miscibility to immiscibility at a certain critical pH, pH(crit2), above which hydrogen bonding is prevented. It is shown here that gamma radiation crosslinking of solid blends is efficient and only results in the formation of hydrogel films for blends prepared between pH(crit1) and pH(crit2). The yield of the gel fraction and the swelling properties of the films depended on the absorbed radiation dose and the polymer ratio. [Diagram: see text] SEM image of an equimolar PAA-PVA blend cast from a pH 4.6 solution.     

UV aging behaviour of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers (EVA) with different vinyl acetate contents

The mild UV aging of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) with two vinyl acetate (VAc) contents (14, 18 wt%) was performed in a xenon arc source chamber. The degradation mechanism was analyzed via attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), gel content and high temperature gel permeation chromatography (HTGPC). Photo-chemically induced deterioration was first initiated from vulnerable VAc units. Ketone formation preceded lactone generation, especially in EVA with high VAc content. Un-stable structures induced further degradation in the main chain. Competition between radiation induced cross-linking and chain scission in EVA was observed, and the later was confirmed to be dominant. Higher VAc content resulted in remarkable drop in molecular weight and growth in polydispersity. Apparent re-arrangement in crystallisation and consequent decrease in thermal stability are discussed through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), which accorded well with the chain scission tendency. Interaction between photo-chemical degradation and physical annealing accounted for the first increasing then decreasing tendency in the mechanical properties of both EVAs.     

Characterization of poly(vinyl alcohol) during the emulsion polymerization of vinyl acetate using poly(vinyl alcohol) as emulsifier

During the emulsion polymerization of vinyl acetate (VAc) using poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as stabilizer and potassium persulfate as initiator, the VAc reacts with PVA forming PVA-graft-PVAc. When the grafted polymer reaches a critical size it becomes water-insoluble and precipitates from the aqueous phase contributing to the formation of polymer particles. Since particle formation and therefore the properties of the final latex will depend on the degree of grafting, it is important to quantify and to characterize the grafted PVA. In this work, the quantitative separation and characterization of the grafted water-insoluble PVA was carried out by a two-step selective solubilization of the PVAc latex, first with acetonitrile to separate PVAc homopolymer, followed by water to separate the water-soluble PVA from the remaining acetonitrile-insoluble material. After the separation, the water-soluble and water-insoluble PVA were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyses, from which the details of the PVA-graft-PVAc structure were obtained. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Long branching in poly(vinyl acetate) and poly(vinyl alcohol). I. Crosslinking and crosslinking cleavage of poly(vinyl acetate)

A crosslinked network was formed by the reaction of partially saponified poly(vinyl acetate) and toluylene diisocyanate in benzene. The yield of gel was markedly dependent on the degree of saponification and the concentrations of polymer and diisocyanate. Crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) was obtained by treating the poly(vinyl acetate) with a catalytic amount of sodium hydroxide in methanol without any change of the urethane crosslinks. The crosslink based on the urethane linkage was quantitatively cleaved by acids, especially by hydrobromic acid, releasing polymers of the same molecular weight as the original.     

Miscibility,morphology and fracture toughness of epoxy resin/poly(vinyl acetate) blends

Diglycidylether of bisphenol A (DGEBA)/poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) blends cured with 4,4-diaminodiphenylmethane (DDM) were prepared. The miscibility and phase behavior were investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The study results indicate that the epoxy precursor (DGEBA)/PVAc blends are clearly miscible at the entire composition and theTg values experimentally obtained are in a good agreement with those predicted by Fox equation. Cured at elevated temperature, all the DDM-cured blends underwent phase separation and display two-phase morphology. When PVAc content is more than 10 wt%, the thermoplastics-modified resins began to show a co-continuous phase structure. It is the cocontinuous structure that leads to a significantly-improved toughness inK _ic. Morphologic investigation of the surfaces of fracture mechanic measurement specimens indicates that the toughening effect of the thermoplastics-modified epoxy resins may arise mainly from the ductile yielding of PVAc.     

Grafting reactions of vinyl acetate onto poly[(vinyl alcohol)-co-(vinyl acetate)]

The grafting preference of vinyl acetate onto the methine carbon of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVOH) versus the acetate group of poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) was determined as part of an attempt to prepare novel branched PVOH from partially hydrolyzed PVAc. The results showed long chain grafting on the acetate groups of the PVAc units rather than the methine carbons of the PVOH or PVAc units. Decreasing the monomer or initiator concentration decreased the molecular weight of the graft copolymer formed. Of the initiators studied, ammonium persulfate gave the largest increase in copolymer molecular weight. Both hydrolysis and reacetylation combined with gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and ¹³C-NMR of the fully hydrolyzed material were used to estimate the number and location of grafts. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Long branching in poly(vinyl acetate) and poly(vinyl alcohol). IV. Polymerization of vinyl trimethylacetate in the presence of crosslinked poly(vinyl acetate)

In order to clarify the grafting behavior of vinyl trimethylacetate (VTMAc) onto poly-(vinyl acetate) (PVAc), the polymerization of a radioactive VTMAc in the presence of a crosslinked PVAc gel was studied in accordance with the experimental technique described in the previous papers. It was found that, at 60°C, the grafting onto the main chain of PVAc takes place about 2.8 times as readily as that onto the acetyl side group on PVAc.     

Biodegradable hybrid polymer films based on poly(vinyl alcohol) and collagen hydrolyzate

Hybrid blends of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and collagen hydrolyzate (CH), an added value waste from leather indutry, have been converted by blown molding extrusion, to environmentally degradable films. Blown extruded films comprising 5-15% of CH, were tested as sel fertilizing mulching films and analyzed for their propensity to enviromental degradation. PVA/CH films rapidly disintegrate when buried in soil, and resulted promising for application such as transplanting films, with additional fertilizing action of CH.