Extended‐chain crystals in high‐pressure crystallized poly(ethylene terephthalate)/bisphenol a polycarbonate blends

Morphologies of extended‐chain crystals with different characteristics were observed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in the high‐pressure crystallized polyethylene terephthalate/polycarbonate (PET/PC) blends. The crystals memorize their nucleation and growth process, which reveal an involvement of different mechanisms simultaneously. The presence of sliding diffusion during crystal thickening is indicated by a wedge shape of some crystals, while bent crystals suggest the occurrence of transesterification in the formation of the large extended‐chain crystals. The observation of two morphological features on one group of crystals shows that two mechanisms may work simultaneously. The connection between folded‐chain and extended‐chain crystals is demonstrated by the S‐shaped extended‐chain crystals as well as their direct morphological connection observed with SEM. Though transesterification plays the essential role in the formation of the large crystals, which acts in different aspects during the process, the thermodynamic driving force is the enthalpy gain associated with large crystals. This is a high‐pressure self‐assembly with a coupling between crystallization and transesterification, which may be instructive to grow such large crystals in similar polymer systems. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 3148–3156, 2006     

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) copolymers containing nitroterephthalic units. I. Synthesis and characterization

The synthesis, microstructure, and thermal behavior of a series of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) copolymers containing nitroterephthalic units are described. These novel copolyesters were synthesized by transesterification followed by melt copolycondensation of dimethyl terephthalate and dimethyl nitroterephthalate mixtures with ethylene glycol. The molar ratio of the two comonomers in the feed varied from 95/5 to 25/75. Furthermore, PET and poly(ethylene nitroterephthalate) homopolymers were synthesized with the same method and comparatively studied. Copolyester compositions were practically the same as in the feed, and weight‐average molecular weights ranged from 10,000 to 60,000. The two monomeric units were randomly distributed along the polymer chain, and the experimentally determined average sequence lengths were in accordance with ideal copolycondensation statistics. Melting temperatures and enthalpies of the copolyesters decreased with increasing content in nitroterephthalic units, and they all showed a single glass‐transition temperature superior to that of PET. They appeared to be stable up to 300 °C, and thermal degradation occurred in two well‐differentiated steps. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 3761–3770, 2000     

Phase behavior and structure development in extruded poly(ethylene terephthalate)/poly(ethylene‐2,6‐naphthalate) blend

Liquid–liquid phase separation and subsequent homogenization during annealing in an extruded poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)/poly(ethylene‐2,6‐naphthalate) (PEN) blend were investigated with time‐resolved light scattering and optical microscopy. In the initial stage, the domain structure was developed by demixing via spinodal decomposition. In the later stage, the blend was homogenized by transesterification between the two polyesters. The crystallization rate depended on the sequence distribution of polymer chains, which was determined by the level of transesterification rather than the composition change of separated phases. When the crystallization of PEN preceded that of PET, PEN showed a higher melting point. However, when the crystallization rate of PEN was slower than that of PET, the previously formed PET crystals suppressed the crystallization of PEN, causing the coarse crystalline structure of PEN to have a lower melting point. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 38: 2625–2633, 2000     

Attachment of bis‐(trifluoromethyl)aryl labels onto the chain ends of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) track‐etched membranes and films by surface wet chemistry

Organic chemistry performed at the solid–liquid interface allowed us to achieve the selective chain‐end functionalization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) membranes and films with perfluorinated labels. The carboxyl endings were activated with water‐soluble carbodiimide and were coupled to 3,5‐bis(trifluoromethyl)benzylamine (1) in aqueous acetonitrile, whereas the hydroxyl endings were activated by tosylation and were also coupled to 1. 3,5‐Bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl isocyanate (2) was directly fixed on the hydroxyl endings of the polymer substrates in dry organic media. All the derivatized materials were analyzed by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, allowing the quantitative determination of the amounts of surface‐grafted labels. Yields were between 10 and 100 pmol/cm². These surface reactivity assays mimic at best the experimental conditions that would be applied for the covalent anchorage of biologically active molecules onto PET substrates used in cell culture systems. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 3510–3520, 2000     

High‐pressure DTA of poly(butylene terephthalate), poly(hexamethylene terephthalate), and poly(ethylene terephthalate)

Pressure effect on the melting behavior of poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) and poly(hexamethylene terephthalate) (PHT) was studied by high‐pressure DTA (HP‐DTA) up to 320 and 530 MPa, respectively. Cooling rate dependence on the DSC melting curves of the samples cooled from the melt was shown at atmospheric pressure. Stable and metastable samples were prepared by cooling from the melt at low and normal cooling rates, respectively. DTA melting curves for the stable samples showed a single peak, and the peak profile did not change up to high pressure. Phase diagrams for PBT and PHT were newly determined. Fitting curves of melting temperature (T_m) versus pressure expressed by quadratic equation were obtained. Pressure coefficients of T_m at atmospheric pressure, dT_m/dp, of PBT and PHT were 37 and 33 K/100 MPa, respectively. HP‐DTA curves of the metastable PBT showed double melting peaks up to about 70 MPa. In contrast, PHT showed them over the whole pressure region. HP‐DTA of stable poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) was also carried out up to 200 MPa, and the phase diagram for PET was determined. dT_m/dp for PET was 49 K/100 MPa. dT_m/dp increased linearly with reciprocal number of ethylene unit. The decrease of dT_m/dp for poly(alkylene terephthalate) with increasing a segmental fraction of an alkyl group in a whole molecule is explained by the increase of entropy of fusion. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 38: 262–272, 2000     

Permeability of N2, Ar,He, O2, and CO2 through as‐extruded amorphous and biaxially oriented polyester films: Dependence on chain mobility

For as‐extruded amorphous and biaxially orientated polyester films based on poly(ethylene terephthalate), poly(ethylene naphthalate), and copolymers containing poly(ethylene terephthalate) and poly(ethylene naphthalate) moieties, permeability, diffusion, and solubility coefficients are interpreted in terms of chain mobility. The influence of polymer morphology is determined by comparison of the data for as‐extruded amorphous sheets and materials produced with different biaxial draw ratios. The crystallinities of the samples were assessed using differential scanning calorimetry and density measurements. Changes in mobility at a molecular level were investigated using dielectric spectroscopy and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis. The study, in conjunction with our earlier work, leads to the conclusion that the key to understanding differences in gas transport is the difference in local chain motions rather than in free volume. This was illustrated by the permeability results for He, Ar, N₂, and O₂ in the range of polyesters. However, the permeability of CO₂ was found to require alternative explanations because of polymer–penetrant interactions. For biaxially oriented samples, the differences in diffusivity are not only due to differences in local chain motions, but also additional constraints resulting from the increased crystallinity and chain rigidity—which also act to hinder segmental mobility. The effectiveness of the reduction in permeability in the biaxially oriented films is consequently determined by the ability of the polymer chains to effectively align and form crystalline structures. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 2916–2929, 2004     

A novel aromatic–aliphatic copolyester consisting of poly(1,4‐dioxan‐2‐one) and poly(ethylene‐co‐1,6‐hexene terephthalate): Preparation,thermal, and mechanical properties

A novel multiblock aromatic–aliphatic copolyester poly(ethylene‐co‐1,6‐hexene terephthalate)‐copoly(1,4‐dioxan‐2‐one) (PEHT‐PPDO) was successfully synthesized via the chain‐extension reaction of dihydroxyl teminated poly(ethylene‐co‐hexane terephthalate) (PEHT‐OH) with dihydroxyl teminated poly(1,4‐dioxan‐2‐one) (PPDO‐OH) prepolymers, using toluene‐2,4‐diisocyanate as a chain extender. To produce PEHT‐OH prepolymer with an appropriate melting point which can match the reaction temperature of PEHT‐OH prepolymer with PPDO‐OH prepolymer, 1,6‐hexanediol was used to disturb the regularity of poly(ethylene terephthalate) segments. The chemical structures and molecular weights of PEHT‐PPDO copolymers were characterized by ¹H NMR, FTIR, and GPC. The DSC data showed that PPDO‐OH segments were miscible well with PEHT‐OH segments in amorphous state and that the crystallization of copolyester was predominantly contributed by PPDO segments. The TGA results indicated that the thermal stability of PEHT‐PPDO was improved comparing with PPDO homopolymer. The novel aromatic–aliphatic copolyesters have good mechanical properties and could find applications in the field of biodegradable polymer materials. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 2828–2837, 2010     

Characterization of the effects of compressed gas annealing on semicrystalline polymers

The effects of annealing semicrystalline polymers in the presence of plasticizing agents is an area of considerable current interest, given the potential to modify the degree and nature of crystallinity. These effects were studied for two semicrystalline polymers, custom‐synthesized methyl‐substituted poly(aryl ether ether ketone) (MePEEK) and industrial‐grade poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). Small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS) was used to characterize the microstructure of both amorphous and preannealed materials. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide‐angle X‐ray scattering, and density measurements were also performed for the PET samples, and reference is made to similar analysis work done for MePEEK. A distinct morphological effect could be identified from SAXS measurements of MePEEK annealed in a stepwise fashion in the presence of high‐pressure CO₂ with the polar cosolvent CH₃OH. This result was absent in MePEEK similarly annealed in air and supports earlier DSC measurements. A very different morphological effect of pressure alone was observed in PET annealed in pure CO₂ (170 and 510 atm) at a temperature of 150 °C, well above the glass transition. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 38: 2457–2467, 2000     

Crystallization behavior and morphology of poly(ethylene‐co‐trimethylene terephthalate)s

The melt crystallization behaviors and crystalline structures of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), poly(trimethylene terephthalate), and poly(ethylene‐co‐trimethylene terephthalate) (PETT) were investigated with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarized optical microscopy (POM), and X‐ray diffraction at various crystallization temperatures (T_cs). The PETT copolymers were synthesized via the polycondensation of terephthalate with ethylene glycol and trimethylene glycol (TG) in various compositions. The copolymers with 69.0 mol % or more TG or 31.0 mol % or less TG were crystallizable, but the other copolymers containing 34–56 mol % TG were amorphous. The DSC isothermal results revealed that the addition of a small amount of flexible TG (up to 21 mol %) to the PET structure slightly reduced the formation of three‐dimensional spherulites. A greater TG concentration (91–100%) in the copolyesters changed the crystal growth from two‐dimensional to three‐dimensional. The DSC heating scans after the completion of isothermal crystallization at various T_cs showed three melting endotherms for PET, PETT‐88, PETT‐84, and PETT‐79 and four melting endotherms for PETT‐9 and PETT. The presence of an additional melting endotherm could be attributed to the melting of thinner and imperfect copolyester crystallites. Analyses of the Lauritzen–Hoffman equation demonstrated that PETT‐88 had the highest values of the product of the lateral and folding surface free energies, and this suggested that the addition of small amounts of flexible trimethylene terephthalate segments to PET disturbed chain regularity, thus increasing molecular chain mobility. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 4255–4271, 2004     

Preparation and characterization of poly(butylene terephthalate)/poly(ethylene terephthalate) copolymers via solid‐state and melt polymerization

To increase the T_g in combination with a retained crystallization rate, bis(2‐hydroxyethyl)terephthalate (BHET) was incorporated into poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) via solid‐state copolymerization (SSP). The incorporated BHET fraction depends on the miscibility of BHET in the amorphous phase of PBT prior to SSP. DSC measurements showed that BHET is only partially miscible. During SSP, the miscible BHET fraction reacts via transesterification reactions with the mobile amorphous PBT segments. The immiscible BHET fraction reacts by self‐condensation, resulting in the formation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) homopolymer. ¹H‐NMR sequence distribution analysis showed that self‐condensation of BHET proceeded faster than the transesterification with PBT. SAXS measurements showed an increase in the long period with increasing fraction BHET present in the mixtures used for SSP followed by a decrease due to the formation of small PET crystals. DSC confirmed the presence of separate PET crystals. Furthermore, the incorporation of BHET via SSP resulted in PBT‐PET copolymers with an increased T_g compared to PBT. However, these copolymers showed a poorer crystallization behavior. The modified copolymer chain segments are apparently fully miscible with the unmodified PBT chains in the molten state. Consequently, the crystal growth process is retarded resulting in a decreased crystallization rate and crystallinity. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 882–899, 2007.     

Preparation of copolyesters from diols and bisphenols by the solution polycondensation with TsCl/DMF/Py as a condensing agent

A novel synthetic method for the preparation of copolyesters comprised of diols and bisphenols using tosyl chloride (TsCl)/DMF/pyridine (Py) as a condensing agent has been developed. A variety of combinations of monomers could produce relatively high molecular weight copolymers, and better results were obtained by initial oligomerization of diols followed by bisphenols. In order to demonstrate usefulness of this method, copolymers comprised of IPA/TPA (50/50), bis(2‐hydroxyethyl)terephthalate (BHET),and several bisphenols were prepared and compared to the poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) modified by TPA and 2,2‐bis(4‐hydroxyphenyl)propane (BPA) diacetate in terms of their thermal properties. The length of mesogenic unit segments in the thermotropic IPA/TPA (50/50)‐BHET/ 4,4′‐dihydroxybenzophenone (4,4′‐DHBP) (50/50) copolymer was changed by initial reaction of BHET followed by dropwise addition of 4,4′‐DHBP in the two‐stage polycondensation and also by varying the amounts of BHET used at the initial and final stages in the three‐stage copolycondensation, and the results were studied by NMR and their thermal properties. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 1270–1276, 2000     

Lamellar‐level morphology induced by combined crystallization and liquid–liquid demixing in a poly(ethylene terephthalate)/poly(ethylene‐2,6‐naphthalate) blend

The lamellar‐level morphology of an extruded poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)/poly(ethylene‐2,6‐naphthalate) (PEN) blend was investigated with small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS). Measurements were made as a function of the annealing time in the melt and the crystallization temperature. The characteristic morphological parameters at the lamellar level were determined by correlation function analysis of the SAXS data. At a low crystallization temperature of 120 °C, the increased amorphous layer thickness was identified in the blend, indicating that some PEN was incorporated into the interlamellar regions of PET during crystallization. The blend also showed a larger lamellar thickness than pure PET. A reason for the increase in the lamellar thickness might be that the formation of thinner lamellar stacks by secondary crystallization was significantly restricted because of the increased glass‐transition temperature. At high crystallization temperatures above 200 °C, the diffusion rates of noncrystallizable components were faster than the growth rates of crystals, with most of the noncrystallizable components escaping from the lamellar stacks. As a result, the blend showed an interfibrillar or interspherulitic morphology. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 317–324, 2002     

Crystallization‐induced aging in poly(trimethylene terephthalate)/ poly(ethylene oxide terephthalate) segmented block copolymers

A new type poly(ether–ester) based on poly(trimethylene terephthalate) as rigid segments and poly(ethylene oxide terephthalate) as soft segments was synthesized and its aging behavior were investigated. Different from other polymer, the segmented block copolymers exhibited a unique aging mechanism. That is, the degradation of mechanical property within short term annealing was due to the overgrown crystals and dramatically increased crystallinity, which was proved by field emission scanning electron microscope (FE‐SEM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), respectively. The deterioration in mechanical property after long term annealing was the results of both the increase in crystallinity and the decrease in molecular weight. Moreover, FE‐SEM showed many interesting flower‐like crystals presented on the surface of annealed sample. The flower‐like crystals consist of several radialized petal‐like arms and a more densely packed center, which has been seldom found in polymer bulk. Wide‐angle x‐ray diffraction results showed that the copolymer has the same crystal structure as PTT. Such poly(ether–ester) or its blends with other polymer could be suitable for rapid degradable products, such as package and vessel. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 411–416, 2010     

Pyrene and anthracene dicarboxylic acids as fluorescent brightening comonomers for polyester

Diacids of fused arenes have been prepared for use as covalently bound fluorescent optical brightening agents in condensation polymers. The monomers: dimethyl 1,6‐pyrene dicarboxylate, dimethyl 1,8‐pyrenedicarboxylate, dimethyl 2,7‐pyrenedicarboxylate, 1,8‐bis(2‐carboxybenzoyl)pyrene dimethyl ester, dimethyl 2,6‐anthracenedicarboxylate, dimethyl 2,7‐anthracenedicarboxylate and dimethyl 9,10‐anthracenedicarboxylate are copolymerized with poly(ethylene terephthalate) and their optical properties are assessed. All of the polymers give blue fluorescence, with the copolymer containing dimethyl 1,6‐pyrenedicarboxylate being the brightest. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 1291–1301, 2000     

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) copolymers containing 5‐nitroisophthalic units. I. Synthesis and characterization

Poly(ethylene terephthalate‐co‐5‐nitroisophthalate) copolymers, abbreviated as PETNI, were synthesized via a two‐step melt copolycondensation of bis(2‐hydroxyethyl) terephthalate and bis(2‐hydroxyethyl) 5‐nitroisophthalate mixtures with molar ratios of these two comonomers varying from 95/5 to 50/50. Polymerization reactions were carried out at temperatures between 200 and 270 °C in the presence of tetrabutyl titanate as a catalyst. The copolyesters were characterized by solution viscosity, GPC, FTIR, and NMR spectroscopy. They were found to be random copolymers and to have a comonomer composition in accordance with that used in the corresponding feed. The copolyesters became less crystalline and showed a steady decay in the melting temperature as the content in 5‐nitroisophthalic units increased. They all showed glass‐transition temperatures superior to that of PET with the maximum value at 85 °C being observed for the 50/50 composition. PETNI copolyesters appeared stable up to 300 °C and thermal degradation was found to occur in two well‐differentiated steps. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 1934–1942, 2000     

Growth of Large Polymer Extended‐Chain Single Crystals in a Poly(ethylene terephthalate)/Bisphenol A Polycarbonate Blend under High Pressure

Summary: High‐quality synthetic polymer extended‐chain single crystals with c‐axis thickness exceeding 100 µm are obtained in a polyethylene terephthalate/polycarbonate (PET/PC) blend rapidly. Some crystals comprise of PET, while others are made up by the copolymers with PET and PC blocks. The fast growth of large crystals is attributed to the mechanisms including transesterification, segment nucleation, and chain‐sliding diffusion, which is a self‐assembling process induced by chemical reactions in multiphase polymer system at high pressure. Similar to the role of enzyme in biosystem, the PC plays as a macromolecular catalyst. This process provides a new direction to grow large polymer single crystals and suggests that self‐assembly under high pressure is a promising method to create materials with new structures and properties.

SEI for a wedge‐shaped extended‐chain single crystal grown in a PET/PC blend at 200 MPa, 623 K for 6 h.     

Unique morphological and thermal behaviors of reorganized poly(ethylene terephthalates)

Bulk poly(ethylene terephthalate) PET has been reorganized both morphologically and conformationally by processing from its inclusion complex (IC) formed with γ‐cyclodextrin (CD). In the narrow channels of its γ‐CD‐IC crystals the included guest PET chains are isolated from neighboring PET chains and the ethylene glycol (EG) units adopt the highly extended g±tg? kink conformations, whose cross‐sectional diameters are ～80% of the diameter of the fully extended, all‐trans crystalline PET conformer, though they are nearly (～95%) as extended. When the highly extended, unentangled guest PET chains are coalesced from their γ‐CD‐IC crystals by exposure to hot water, host γ‐CDs are removed and the PET chains are presumably consolidated into a bulk sample with a morphology and constituent chain conformations not normally found in PET samples solidified from their randomly coiling, possibly entangled, disordered melts and solutions. Observations by polarized light and atomic force microscopies provide visual evidence for widely different semicrystalline morphologies developed in coalesced and as‐received PETs when crystallized from their melts, with possibly chain extended, small crystals and spherulitic, chain‐folded, large crystals, respectively. DSC observations reveal that coalesced PET is rapidly crystallizable from the melt, while as‐received PET is slow to crystallize and is easily quenched into a totally amorphous sample. Analyses of ¹³C‐NMR data strongly indicate that the PET chains in the noncrystalline regions of the coalesced sample remain predominantly in the highly extended kink conformations, with g±tg? EG units, which are required by their inclusion into PET‐γ‐CD‐IC crystals, while the predominantly amorphous PET chains in the as‐received sample have high concentrations of gauche± ? CH₂? CH₂? and trans ? O? CH₂? ,? CH₂? O? EG bond conformations. ¹³C‐NMR T₁(¹³C) and T_1ρ(¹H) relaxation studies show no evidence of a glass transition for coalesced PET, while the as‐received sample shows abrupt changes in both the MHz [T₁(¹³C)] and kHz [T_1ρ(¹H)] motions at T ～ T_g. Preliminary observations of differences in their macroscopic properties are attributed to the very different morphologies and conformations of the constituent chains in these PET samples. Apparently the kink conformers in the noncrystalline regions of coalesced PET are at least partially retained for extended periods even in the melt and are rapidly crystallized upon cooling. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 386–394, 2004     

Organocatalytic depolymerization of poly(ethylene terephthalate)

We describe the organocatalytic depolymerization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), using a commercially available guanidine catalyst, 1,5,7‐triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec‐5‐ene (TBD). Postconsumer PET beverage bottles were used and processed with 1.0 mol % (0.7 wt %) of TBD and excess amount of ethylene glycol (EG) at 190 °C for 3.5 hours under atmospheric pressure to give bis(2‐hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET) in 78% isolated yield. The catalyst efficiency was comparable to other metal acetate/alkoxide catalysts that are commonly used for depolymerization of PET. The BHET content in the glycolysis product was subject to the reagent loading. This catalyst influenced the rate of the depolymerization as well as the effective process temperature. We also demonstrated the recycling of the catalyst and the excess EG for more than 5 cycles. Computational and experimental studies showed that both TBD and EG activate PET through hydrogen bond formation/activation to facilitate this reaction. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Morphology investigation on high‐pressure crystallized bisphenol‐A polycarbonate/dioctyl phthalate blends

The high‐pressure crystallized bisphenol‐A polycarbonate/dioctyl phthalate (BAPC/DOP) blend samples were investigated using wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The specimens were prepared in a piston‐cylinder high‐pressure apparatus by varying the temperature, the pressure and the crystallization time for a BAPC/DOP (90/10, wt/wt) blend. The other four specimens were also prepared with different weight ratios of BAPC/DOP. The DSC results showed that the amorphous BAPC could be crystallized in 45 min by the blending with DOP and the subsequent high‐pressure treatment. A wide variety of morphologies of BAPC crystals were disclosed by SEM, including spherulites, spatial dendrites, crystalbars, platelets and regular polygonal crystals of different characteristics. The folded‐chain lamellar crystals were found to be the substructures of these observed BAPC microstructures. The SEM revealed a granular substructure of the lamellae in a low‐crystallinity sample as well, which indicated that the crystallization of BAPC in the multiphase system might possibly agree with the model developed by Strobl. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 2715–2728, 2007     

Synthesis and thermal behavior of new poly(ethylene terephthalate‐imide)s

Copoly(ethylene terephthalate‐imide)s (PETIs) were synthesized by the melt copolycondensation of bis(2‐hydroxyethyl)terephthalate with a new imide monomer, N,N′‐bis[p‐(2‐hydroxyethoxycarbonyl)phenyl]‐biphenyl‐3,3′,4,4′‐tetracarboxydiimide (BHEI). The copolymers were characterized by intrinsic viscosity, Fourier transform infrared, ¹H NMR, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis techniques. Although their crystallinities decreased as the content of BHEI units increased, the glass‐transition temperatures (T_g) increased significantly. When 5 or 10 mol % BHEI units were incorporated into poly(ethylene terephthalate), T_g increased by 10 or 24 °C, respectively. The thermal stabilities of PETI copolymers were about the same as the thermal stability of PET, whereas the weight loss of PETIs decreased as the content of BHEI units increased. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 39: 408–415, 2001