Self-assembly behavior of A-B diblock and C-D random copolymer mixtures in the solution state through mediated hydrogen bonding

We have synthesized poly(methyl methacrylate- b-4-vinylpyridine) (PMMA- b-P4VP) and poly(styrene- r-vinylphenol) (PS- r-PVPh) copolymers by using anionic and free radical polymerizations, respectively. Well-defined micelles through hydrogen bonding have been prepared by mixing PMMA- b-P4VP diblock copolymer and PS- r-PVPh random copolymer in a single solvent. Block copolymers were mixed with random copolymers, with various [N]/[OH] ratios (4/1, 2/1, 1/1, and 1/4) in which "[N]/[OH]" represents the molar ratio of pyridine groups on P4VP to hydroxyl groups on PVPh. The presence distribution of PVPh/P4VP and PVPh/PMMA hydrogen bonding depends on the feeding ratio of PVPh to P4VP. When the PVPh content is lower than that of P4VP, hydrogen bonding occurs only between PVPh and P4VP; with excess PVPh, additional hydrogen bonding between PVPh and PMMA would occur. Furthermore, the effect of the solvent quality on the self-assembly behavior of PMMA- b-P4VP/PS- r-PVPh blends is investigated by considering tetrahydrofuran (THF) and dimethylformamide (DMF) as common solvents. We can mediate the strength of hydrogen bonding in blend systems by adopting different solvents and inducing different morphology transitions.     

Crystallizability of Poly(ε-caprolactone) Blends with Poly(vinylphenol) under Different Conditions

The intermolecular interaction between poly（vinylphenol） （PVPh） and polycaprolactone （PCL） and the crystallization behavior of PCL in PCL/PVPh blends with different compositions and under different conditions were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectra （FTIR） and differential scanning calorimetry （DSC）. It has been shown that the PCL in the blends with different blend ratios all exists in crystalline state after solution casting, even though the crystallinity decreases with increasing PVPh content. For the melt crystallized samples, PCL in its 80/20 PCL/PVPh sample can still crystallize. The crystallinity is, however, lower than that of the solution cast sample. For blends containing 50% or 20% PCL, the as-cast samples are semicrystalline and can change to compatible amorphous state after heat treatment process. FTIR analysis shows the existence of hydrogen bonding between PCL and PVPh and the fraction of hydrogen bonds increases remarkably after heat treatment process.     

Miscibility and hydrogen‐bonding interactions in blends of carbon dioxide/epoxy propane copolymer with poly(p‐vinylphenol)

The miscibility and hydrogen‐bonding interactions of carbon dioxide and epoxy propane copolymer to poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC)/poly(p‐vinylphenol) (PVPh) blends were investigated with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The single glass‐transition temperature for each composition showed miscibility over the entire composition range. FTIR indicates the presence of strong hydrogen‐bonding interassociation between the hydroxyl groups of PVPh and the oxygen functional groups of PPC as a function of composition and temperature. XPS results testify to intermolecular hydrogen‐bonding interactions between the oxygen atoms of carbon–oxygen single bonds and carbon–oxygen double bonds in carbonate groups of PPC and the hydroxyl groups of PVPh by the shift of C_1s peaks and the evolution of three novel O_1s peaks in the blends, which supports the suggestion from FTIR analyses. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 1957–1964, 2002     

Spontaneous thinning/thickening deformation observed for plastic blend films and some factors affecting film deformation

The fully amorphous films of highly syndiotactic poly[(R,S)‐3‐hydroxybutyrate] (s‐PHB)/atactic poly(4‐vinylphenol) (PVPh) blends show reversible thinning/thickening phenomena at 37 °C in aqueous medium. On the other hand, isotactic poly[(R)‐3‐hydroxybutyrate] (i‐PHB)/PVPh blend film, in which i‐PHB blend component was partially crystalline, did not show any thinning/thickening phenomena under the same conditions. To elucidate the factors influencing these phenomena, the structure and molecular interaction in these blends were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry, and wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction. The FTIR spectra indicated that the ester carbonyl of PHB and the phenolic hydroxyl of PVPh formed hydrogen bonds in both the thinned and thickened s‐PHB/PVPh blend films. The blend composition, intermolecular hydrogen‐bonding interaction, crystallization behavior, miscibility, and the glass‐transition temperature of the blends affected the thinning/thickening phenomena. Some other polyesters such as poly(?‐caprolactone), poly (L‐lactic acid), atactic poly(D,L‐lactic acid), and poly(ethylene terephthalate) had no ability to exhibit thinning/thickening phenomena in water at 37 °C when they were blended with PVPh. This result implies that s‐PHB/PVPh is the rare example with the ability to show reversible thinning/thickening phenomena. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 2736–2743, 2002     

Effect of inert diluent segment on the miscibility behavior of poly(vinylphenol) with poly(acetoxystyrene) blends

Polymer blends of poly(vinylphenol) (PVPh) and poly(styrene‐co‐vinylphenol) with poly(p‐acetoxystyrene) (PAS) were prepared by solution casting from tetrahydrofuran solution. The thermal properties and hydrogen bonding of the blends were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Although hydrogen bonding existed between the PVPh and PAS segments, the experimental results indicated that PVPh is immiscible with PAS as shown by the existence of two glass‐transition temperatures over the entire composition range by DSC. This phenomenon is attributed to the strong self‐association of PVPh, intramolecular screening, and functional group accessibility effects of the PVPh/PAS blend system. However, the incorporation of an inert diluent moiety such as styrene into the PVPh chain renders the modified polymer to be miscible with PAS. Copolymers containing between 16 and 51 mol % vinylphenol were fully miscible with PAS according to DSC studies. These observed results were caused by the reduction of the strong self‐association of PVPh and the increase of the interassociation between PVPh and PAS segments with the incorporation of styrene on the PVPh chain. According to the Painter‐Coleman association model, the interassociation equilibrium constant of PVPh/PAS blends was determined by a model compound and polymer blend. Good correlation between these two methods was obtained after considering the intramolecular screening and functional group accessibility effect in the polymer blend. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 1661–1672, 2002     

Significant glass‐transition‐temperature increase through hydrogen‐bonded copolymers

The role of hydrogen bonding in promoting intermolecular cohesion and higher glass‐transition temperatures of polymer is a subject of longstanding interest. A series of poly(vinylphenol‐co‐vinylpyrrolidone) copolymers were prepared by the free‐radical copolymerization of acetoxystyrene and vinylpyrrolidone; this was followed by the selective removal of the acetyl protective group, with corresponding and significant glass‐transition‐temperature increases after this procedure. The incorporation of acetoxystyrene into poly(vinylpyrrolidone) resulted in lower glass‐transition temperatures because of the reduced dipole interactions in its homopolymers. However, the deacetylation of acetoxystyrene to transform the poly(vinylphenol‐co‐vinylpyrrolidone) copolymer enhanced the higher glass‐transition temperature because of the strong hydrogen bonding in the copolymer chain. The thermal properties and hydrogen bonding of these two copolymers were investigated with differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and good correlations between the thermal behaviors and IR results were observed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 2313–2323, 2002     

Study of hydrogen‐bonding strength in poly(ϵ‐caprolactone) blends by DSC and FTIR

The hydrogen‐bonding strength of poly(?‐caprolactone) (PCL) blends with three different well‐known hydrogen‐bonding donor polymers [i.e., phenolic, poly(vinyl‐phenol) (PVPh), and phenoxy] was investigated with differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. All blends exhibited a single glass‐transition temperature with differential scanning calorimetry, which is characteristic of a miscible system. The strength of interassociation depended on the hydrogen‐bonding donor group in the order phenolic/PCL > PVPh/PCL > phenoxy/PCL, which corresponds to the q value of the Kwei equation. In addition, the interaction energy density parameter calculated from the melting depression of PCL with the Nishi–Wang equation resulted in a similar trend in terms of the hydrogen‐bonding strength. Quantitative analyses on the fraction of hydrogen‐bonded carbonyl groups in the molten state were made with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy for all systems, and good correlations between thermal behaviors and infrared results were observed. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 39: 1348–1359, 2001     

Hydrogen bond mediated supramolecular micellization of diblock copolymer mixture in common solvents

We report a new approach toward preparing self-assembled hydrogen-bonded complexes having vesicle and patched spherical structures from two species of block copolymers in nonselective solvents. Two diblock copolymers, poly(styrene-b-vinyl phenol) (PS-b-PVPh) and poly(methyl methacrylate-b-4-vinylpyridine) (PMMA-b-P4VP), were synthesized through anionic polymerization. The assembly of vesicles from the intermolecular complex formed after mixing PS-b-PVPH with PMMA-b-P4VP in THF was driven by strong hydrogen bonding between the complementary binding sites on the PVPH and P4VP blocks. In contrast, well-defined patched spherical micelles formed after blending PS-b-PVPh with PMMA-b-P4VP in DMF: the weaker hydrogen bonds formed between the PVPh and P4VP blocks in DMF, relative to those in THF, resulted in the formation of spherical micelles having compartmentalized coronas consisting of PS and PMMA blocks.     

Segmental and secondary dynamics in hydrogen‐bonded poly(4‐vinylphenol)/poly(methyl methacrylate) blends

Broadband dielectric spectroscopy was used to study the segmental (α) and secondary (β) relaxations in hydrogen‐bonded poly(4‐vinylphenol)/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PVPh/PMMA) blends with PVPh concentrations of 20–80% and at temperatures from ?30 to approximately glass‐transition temperature (T_g) + 80 °C. Miscible blends were obtained by solution casting from methyl ethyl ketone solution, as confirmed by single differential scanning calorimetry T_g and single segmental relaxation process for each blend. The β relaxation of PMMA maintains similar characteristics in blends with PVPh, compared with neat PMMA. Its relaxation time and activation energy are nearly the same in all blends. Furthermore, the dielectric relaxation strength of PMMA β process in the blends is proportional to the concentration of PMMA, suggesting that blending and intermolecular hydrogen bonding do not modify the local intramolecular motion. The α process, however, represents the segmental motions of both components and becomes slower with increasing PVPh concentration because of the higher T_g. This leads to well‐defined α and β relaxations in the blends above the corresponding T_g, which cannot be reliably resolved in neat PMMA without ambiguous curve deconvolution. The PMMA β process still follows an Arrhenius temperature dependence above T_g, but with an activation energy larger than that observed below T_g because of increased relaxation amplitude. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 3405–3415, 2004     

Improvement in fracture behaviors of epoxy resins toughened with sulfonated poly(ether sulfone)

The sulfonated poly(ether sulfone) (SPES) was successfully prepared using chlorosulfonic acid as a sulfonating agent. Diglycidylether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) epoxy resins were modified with different contents of SPES, and the thermal and mechanical interfacial properties of DGEBA/SPES blends were investigated. As a result, the surface free energy of the blends was increased by the addition of SPES. DSC measurements revealed that the curing reaction was delayed with the increase of SPES content. Whereas, the thermal stabilities of the blends were slightly decreased as the SPES content increased. Meanwhile, the glass transition temperature and fracture toughness of the blends were increased with increasing SPES content, due to the improved intermolecular interactions, such as hydrogen bonding, between the hydroxyl group of DGEBA and the sulfonic group of SPES in the blends. The agreement could be observed by SEM which revealed phase separated morphology of DGEBA/SPES blends.     

P(HB-co-HV)/PVPh的相容性与聚集态结构

采用差热扫描分析、红外光谱、固体核磁、小角X光散射等方法研究了聚(β-羟基丁酸酯-co-β-羟基戊酸酯(P(HB-co-HV))/聚(对-羟基苯乙烯)(简称PVPh)共混物的相容性和形态。结果表明两组分间形成较强的分子间氢键,形成完全相容的共混体系。固体核磁结果表明P(HB-co-HV)/PVPh(50/50)在3.4nm尺寸上是完全均相的。小角X光散射结果表明,在等温结晶的共混物中无定形的PVPh分子分散在P(HB-co-HV)片晶之间与非晶的P(HB-co-HV)分子形成非晶区,从而使非晶区加宽,长周期增加。     

Poly(hydroxyether of phenolphthalein) and its blends with poly(ethylene oxide)

Poly(hydroxyether of phenolphthalein) (PPH) was synthesized through the polycondensation of phenolphthalein with epichlorohydrin. It was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, NMR spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The miscibility of the blends of PPH with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) was established on the basis of the thermal analysis results. DSC showed that the PPH/PEO blends prepared via casting from N,N‐dimethylformamide possessed single, composition‐dependent glass‐transition temperatures. Therefore, the blends were miscible in the amorphous state for all compositions. FTIR studies indicated that there were competitive hydrogen‐bonding interactions with the addition of PEO to the system, which were involved with OH…O?C〈, ? OH…? OH, and ? OH vs ether oxygen atoms of PEO hydrogen bonding, that is both intramolecular and intermolecular, between PPH and PEO). Some of the hydroxyl stretching vibration bands significantly shifted to higher frequencies, whereas others shifted to lower frequencies, and this suggested the formation of hydrogen bonds between the pendant hydroxyls of PPH and ether oxygen atoms of PEO, which were stronger than the intramolecular hydrogen bonding between hydroxyls and carbonyls of PPH. The FTIR spectra in the range of carbonyl stretching vibrations showed that the hydroxyl‐associated carbonyl groups were partially set free because of the presence of the competitive hydrogen‐bonding interactions. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 466–475, 2003     

Synthesis and thermal,optical, and mechanical properties of sequence‐controlled poly(1‐adamantyl acrylate)‐block‐poly(n‐butyl acrylate) containing polar side group

We prepared the sequence‐controlled block copolymers including poly(1‐adamantyl acrylate) (PAdA) and poly(n‐butyl acrylate) sequences as the hard and soft segments, respectively, by the organotellurium‐mediated living radical polymerization. The thermal, optical, and mechanical properties of the adamantane‐containing block copolymers with polar 2‐hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) and acrylic acid (AA) repeating units were investigated. The microphase‐separated structures of the block copolymers were confirmed by the differential scanning calorimetry and atomic force microscopy observations as well as dynamic mechanical measurements. The α‐ and β‐dispersions due to the main‐chain and side group molecular motions, respectively, of the hard and soft segments were observed. Their transition temperatures and activation energies increased due to the formation of intermolecular hydrogen bonding by the introduction of the HEA and AA repeating units. The effects of the hydrogen bonding on their tensile elasticity, strength, and strain were also evaluated. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 2899–2910     

Interactions and prediction of phase diagrams in ternary blends comprising poly(vinyl acetate), poly(vinyl p‐phenol), and poly(methyl methacrylate)

This study investigated and discovered a new miscible ternary blend system comprising three amorphous polymers: poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc), poly(vinyl p‐phenol) (PVPh), and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) using thermal analysis and optical and scanning electron microscopies. The ternary compositions are largely miscible except for a small region of borderline ternary miscibility near the side, where the binary blends of PVAc/PMMA are originally of a borderline miscibility with broad T_g. In addition to the discovering miscibility in a new ternary blend, another objective of this study was to investigate whether the introduction of a third polymer component (PVPh) with hydrogen bonding capacity might disrupt or enhance the metastable miscibility between PVAc and PMMA. The PVPh component does not seem to exert any “bridging effect” to bring the mixture of PVAc and PMMA to a better state of miscibility; neither does the Δχ effect seem to disrupt the borderline miscible PVAc/PMMA blend into a phase‐separated system by introducing PVPh. Apparently, the ternary is able to remain in as a miscible state as the binary systems owing to the fact that PVPh is capable of maintaining roughly equal H‐bonding interactions with either PVAc or PMMA in the ternary mixtures to maintain balanced interactions among the ternary mixtures. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 1147–1160, 2006     

Hydrogen Bonding Complexes of Poly(styrene-co-2-hydroxyethyl acrylate) and Poly (styrene-co-4-vinylpyridine)

Summary: Random copolymers of poly(styrene-co-4-vinylpyridine) (S4VP) and poly (styrene-co-2-hydroxyethyl acrylate) (SHEA) of different compositions were prepared and characterized. An investigation of the effects of solvent and densities of the interacting species incorporated within these copolymers showed that novel and various hydrogen bonding interpolymer complexes of different structures were elaborated when these copolymers are mixed together. The specific interactions that occurred within the SHEA copolymers and the elaborated complexes were evidenced by FTIR qualitatively from the appearance of a new band at 1604 cm⁻¹ and quantitatively using appropriate spectral curve fitting in the carbonyl and pyridine regions. The intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions that occurred between the hydroxyl groups of the SHEA and the nitrogen atom of the pyridine groups in the S4VP are stronger than the self-associations within the SHEA. In the solid state, a DSC analysis showed that the variation of the glass transition temperatures of these materials with the composition behaved differently with the densities of interacting species and were analyzed quantitatively. A thermal stability study of the synthesized copolymers and of their different mixtures carried by thermogravimetry confirmed a similar behaviour.     

Epoxy resin/poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) blends cured with 1,3,5-trihydroxybenzene: miscibility and intermolecular interactions

Epoxy resin (ER)/poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and/or poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) blends cured with 1,3,5-trihydroxybenzene (THB) were prepared via the in situ curing reaction of epoxy monomers in the presence of PEO and/or PCL, which started from the initially homogeneous mixtures of DGEBA, THB and PEO and/or PCL. The miscibility and the intermolecular specific interactions in the thermosetting polymer blends were investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The two systems displayed single and composition-dependant glass transition temperatures (T _gs), indicating the full miscibility of the thermosetting blends. The experimental T _gs of the blends can be well accounted for by Gordon-Taylor and Kwei equations, respectively. The T _g-composition behaviors were compared with those of poly(hydroxyether of bisphnol A) (Phenoxy) blends with PEO and PCL. It is noted that the formation of crosslinked structure has quite different effects on miscibility and intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions for the thermosetting polymer blends. In ER/PEO blends, the strength of the intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions is weaker than that of the self-association in the control epoxy resin, which is in marked contrast to the case of Phenoxy/PEO blends. This suggests that the crosslinking reduces the intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions, whereas the intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions were not significantly reduced by the formation of the crosslinking structure in ER/PCL blends.     

Phosphonyl/hydroxyl hydrogen bonding–induced miscibility of poly(arylene ether phosphine oxide/sulfone) statistical copolymers with poly(hydroxy ether) (phenoxy resin): Synthesis and characterization

High molecular weight bisphenol A or hydroquinone‐based poly(arylene ether phosphine oxide/sulfone) homopolymer or statistical copolymers were synthesized and characterized by thermal analysis, gel permeation chromatography, and intrinsic viscosity. Miscibility studies of blends of these copolymers with a (bisphenol A)‐epichlorohydrin based poly(hydroxy ether), termed phenoxy resin, were conducted by infrared spectroscopy, dynamic mechanical analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. All of the data are consistent with strong hydrogen bonding between the phosphonyl groups of the copolymers and the pendent hydroxyl groups of the phenoxy resin as the miscibility‐inducing mechanism. Complete miscibility at all blend compositions was achieved with as little as 20 mol % of phosphine oxide units in the bisphenol A poly(arylene ether phosphine oxide/sulfone) copolymer. Single glass transition temperatures (T_g) from about 100 to 200°C were achieved. Replacement of bisphenol A by hydroquinone in the copolymer synthesis did not significantly affect blend miscibilities. Examination of the data within the framework of four existing blend T_g composition equations revealed T_g elevation attributable to phosphonyl/hydroxyl hydrogen bonding interactions. Because of the structural similarities of phenoxy, epoxy, and vinylester resins, the new poly(arylene ether phosphine oxide/sulfone) copolymers should find many applications as impact‐improving and interphase materials in thermoplastics and thermoset composite blend compositions. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 37: 1849–1862, 1999     

Supramolecular Micellization of Diblock Copolymer Mixtures Mediated by Hydrogen Bonding for the Observation of Separated Coil and Chain Aggregation in Common Solvents

This paper describes a new approach towards preparing self‐assembled hydrogen‐bonded complexes that have vesicle and patched spherical structures from two species of block copolymer in non‐selective solvents. The assembly of vesicles from the intermolecular complex formed after mixing polystyrene‐block‐poly(4‐vinyl phenol) (PS‐b‐PVPh) with poly(methyl methacrylate)‐block‐poly(4‐vinylpyridine) (PMMA‐b‐P4VP) in tetrahydrofuran (THF) is driven by strong hydrogen bonding between the complementary binding sites on the PVPh and P4VP blocks. In contrast, well‐defined patched spherical micelles form after blending PS‐b‐PVPh with PMMA‐b‐P4VP in N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF): weaker hydrogen bonds form between the PVPh and P4VP blocks in DMF, relative to those in THF, which results in the formation of spherical micelles that have compartmentalized coronas that consist of PS and PMMA blocks.

     

Interactions in a blend of two polymers greatly differing in glass transition temperature

Blends of poly(N‐methyldodecano‐12‐lactam) PMDL with poly(4‐vinyphenol) PVPh have been studied by the DSC and ATR FTIR methods. The difference in glass transition temperature T_g between the components is 206 °C. A single composition‐dependent T_g suggests miscibility of the system, that is, homogeneity on the scale of about 10 nm. Fitting of the equation of Brostow et al. to the T_g data indicates relatively strong specific interactions and high complexity of the system. The Schneider's equation applied separately to low‐ and high‐PVPh regions provides good agreement with experiment; the calculated curves cross at the point of PVPh weight fraction 0.27. In the low‐PVPh region, the analysis indicates weak interactions with predominance of segment homocontacts and strong involvement of conformational entropy. In the high‐PVPh region, strong specific interactions predominate and entropic effects are suppressed. Composition dependences of the heat capacity difference at T_g and the width of glass transition indicate strong interactions in the system and existence of certain heterogeneities on segmental level, respectively. According to ATR FTIR, hydrogen bonds between PVPh as proton donor and PMDL as proton acceptor induce miscibility in blends of higher PVPh content (above about 0.28 weight fraction). In low‐PVPh blends, it is conformational entropy that enables intimate intermolecular mixing. Hydrogen bonds adopt several (distorted) geometries and are on average stronger than average hydrogen bonds formed in self‐associating PVPh. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2011     

Phase behavior and interactions in blends of poly[(butylene adipate)-co-poly(butylene terephthalate)] copolyester with poly(4-vinyl phenol)

Miscibility with a linear T _g–composition relationship was proven for blend of poly(butylene adipate-co-butylene terephthalate) [P(BA-co-BT)] with poly(4-vinyl phenol) (PVPh). In comparison to the blends of PBA/PVPh and poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT)/PVPh, the Kwei’s T _g model fitting on data for the P(BA-co-BT)/PVPh blend yields a q value between those for the PBA/PVPh and PBT/PVPh blends. The q values suggest that the interaction strength in the P(BA-co-BT)/PVPh blend is not as strong as that in the PBT/PVPh blend. Upon mixing the PVPh into the immiscible blend of PBA and PBT, the ternary PBA/PBT/PVPh blends only exhibits partial miscibility. Full-scale ternary miscibility in whole compositions is not possible owing to the significant ∆χ effect (χ _ij  – χ _ik ). The wavenumber shifts of the hydroxyl IR absorbance band indicates that the H-bonding strength is in decreasing order—PBT/PVPh > P(BA-co-BT)/PVPh > PBA/PVPh—and shows that the BA segment in the copolymer tends to defray interactions between P(BA-co-BT) and PVPh in blends.