Poly(ether ether ketone)/poly(aryl ether sulfone) blends: Melt rheological behavior

Dynamic rheological measurements were carried out on blends of poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK)/poly(aryl ether sulfone) (PES) in the melt state in the oscillatory shear mode. The data were analyzed for the fundamental rheological behavior to yield insight into the microstructure of PEEK/PES blends. A variation of complex viscosity with composition exhibited positive–negative deviations from the log‐additivity rule and was typical for a continuous‐discrete type of morphology with weak interaction among droplets. The point of transition showed that phase inversion takes place at composition with a 0.6 weight fraction of PEEK, which agreed with the actual morphology of these blends observed by scanning electron microscopy. Activation energy for flow, for blend compositions followed additive behavior, which indicated that PEEK/PES blends may have had some compatibility in the melt. Variation of the elastic modulus (G′) with composition showed a trend similar to that observed for complex viscosity. A three‐zone model used for understanding the dynamic moduli behavior of polymers demonstrated that PEEK follows plateau‐zone behavior, whereas PES exhibits only terminal‐zone behavior in the frequency range studied. The blends of these two polymers showed an intermediate behavior, and the crossover frequency shifted to the low‐frequency region as the PEEK content in PES increased. This revealed the shift of terminal‐zone behavior to low frequency with an increased PEEK percentage in the blend. Variation of relaxation time with composition suggested that slow relaxation of PEEK retards the relaxation process of PES as the PEEK concentration in the blend is increased because of the partial miscibility of the blend, which affects the constraint release process of pure components in the blend. A temperature‐independent correlation observed in the log–log plots of G′ versus loss modulus (G″) for different blend systems fulfilled the necessary condition for their rheological simplicity. Further, the composition‐dependent correlations of PEEK/PES blends observed in a log–log plot of G′ versus G″ showed that the blends are either partially miscible or immiscible and form a discrete‐continuous phase morphology. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 1548–1563, 2004     

Thermal degradation of poly(vinyl chloride)/poly(ethylene oxide) blends: Thermogravimetric analysis

Thermal stability of poly(vinyl chloride)/poly(ethylene oxide) (PVC/PEO) blends has been investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) in dynamic and isothermal heating regime. PVC/PEO blends were prepared by hot-melt extrusion (HME). According to TG analysis, PEO decomposes in one stage, while PVC and PVC/PEO blends in two degradation stages. In order to evaluate the effect of PEO content on the thermal stability of PVC/PEO blends, different criteria were used. It was found that thermal stability of PVC/PEO blends depends on the blend composition. The interactions of blends components with their degradation products were confirmed. By using multiple heating rate kinetics the activation energies of the PVC/PEO blends thermal degradation were calculated by isoconversional integral Flynn–Wall–Ozawa and differential Friedman method. According to dependence of activation energy on degree of conversion the complexity of degradation processes was determined.     

Glass transition and miscibility in blends of two semicrystalline polymers: Poly(aryl ether ketone) and poly(ether ether ketone)

Binary melt‐blended mixtures of two aryl ether ketone polymers (i.e., a new poly(aryl ether ketone) (code name PK99) and poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK), have been studied. Polymer miscibility in glassy amorphous (or melt) domains has been demonstrated for the binary blend comprising of two aryl‐ether‐ketone‐type semicrystalline polymers. Composition‐dependent, single T_g was observed within full composition range in the PK99/PEEK blends, and the narrow T_g breadth also suggests that the scale of mixing was fine and uniform. To better resolve any possible overlapping T_g's, physical aging was imposed on a comparison set of blend samples for the purpose of improving detectability of overlapped multiple transitions if existing. The result still showed one single T_g. The relative sharp T_g and lack of cloud point transition suggest that the scale of molecular intermixing is good. Phase homogeneity was further confirmed using optical and scanning electron microscopy. The X‐ray diffractograms suggest that isomorphism does not exist in the PK99/PEEK blends and that the crystal forms of the respective polymers remain distinct and unchanged by the miscibility in the amorphous region. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 37: 1485–1494, 1999     

Isomorphic behavior of poly(aryl ether ketone) blends

Blends of various poly(aryl ether ketones) have been found to exhibit a range of miscibility and isomorphic behavior. This range is dependent on molecular weight; however, for poly(aryl ether ketones) with number-average molecular weight of 20,000, this range is about ±25% difference in ketone content. All miscible blends exhibit isomorphism, and all immiscible blends exhibit no evidence of isomorphism. The dependence of the glass transition temperature T_g versus composition exhibits a minimum deviation from linearity whereas the melting temperature T_m versus composition exhibits a pronounced maximum deviation from linear behavior. The crystalline melting point versus composition for isomorphic blends is considerably different than for random copolymers with isomorphic units. Homopolymers and random copolymers exhibit a melting point that is a linear function of ketone content (increasing ketone content increases T_m). For blends, the melting point is essentially the same as that of the higher melting constituent until high levels of the lower melting constituent are present. The observed melting point versus composition behavior will be interpreted using classical theory to calculate the components of the liquid and crystalline phase compositions. As a miscible blend is cooled from the melt, essentially pure component of the highest melting point crystallizes out of solution, as predicted by calculated solid-liquid phase diagrams. This occurs until the crystallization is complete owing to spherulitic impingement. At high concentrations of the lower melting constituent, lower melting points will be observed because the highest melting constituent will be depleted before the crystallization is complete. In many miscible blends involving addition of an amorphous polymer to a crystalline polymer, the degree of crystallinity of the crystalline polymer has been shown to increase. On the basis of evidence presented here, it is hypothesized that dilution by a miscible, amorphous polymer allows for a higher level of crystallinity.     

Structure‐controlled synthesis of novel soluble and thermally stable poly (aryl ether nitrile ether ketone ketone)/poly (aryl ether nitrile ether ketone biphenyl ketone) copolymers by electrophilic polycondensation

One new synthesis route was first designed to synthesize the biphenyl acid chloride (BPACl), and then a series of novel poly (aryl ether nitrile ether ketone ketone) (PENEKK)/poly (aryl ether nitrile ether ketone biphenyl ketone) (PENEKBK) copolymers with different controlled structure compositions were synthesized by electrophilic polycondensation and varying the molar ratio of BPACl to terephthaloyl chloride (TPC). The obtained PENEKK/PENEKBK copolymers were characterized by different physical and chemical techniques. The results showed, the copolymers with 10–50% molar contents of biphenyl moities exhibited good thermal properties with glass transition temperatures (T_gs) of 184–196°C, decomposition temperatures (T_ds) of 498–515°C, and good solubility in organic solvents (N‐Methyl‐2‐pyrrolidone (NMP), N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF), and DMSO), indicating that they would have good potential for solvent processing. The thin films of the polymers had tensile strengths of 93.6–101.5 MPa, Young's moduli of 3.03–3.32 GPa, elongations at break of 9–14%, indicating they were strong materials. The densities of the obtained polymers were 1.31–1.40 g/cm^?3, which were far lower than those of some main inorganic materials (such as Fe, nearly 7.8 g/cm^?3), indicating that they would have possible potential for substituting some inorganic materials used as high temperature materials in some areas due to the merits of lightweight. Thus, the copolymers with 10–50% molar contents of biphenyl moities were promising polymer materials. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Miscible blends of modified poly(aryl ether ketones) with aromatic polyimides

The phase behavior of binary blends of poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK), sulfonated PEEK, and sulfamidated PEEK with aromatic polyimides is reported. PEEK was determined to be immiscible with a poly(amide imide) (TORLON 4000T). Blends of sulfonated and sulfamidated PEEK with this poly(amide imide), however, are reported here to be miscible in all proportions. Blends of sulfonated PEEK and a poly(ether imide) (ULTEM 1000) are also reported to be miscible. Spectroscopic investigations of the intermolecular interactions suggest that formation of electron donoracceptor complexes between the sulfonated/sulfamidated phenylene rings of the PEEKs and the n-phenylene units of the polyimides are responsible for this miscibility. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Kinetics of thermal degradation and thermal oxidative degradation of poly(p-dioxanone)

The kinetics of the thermal degradation and thermal oxidative degradation of poly(p-dioxanone) (PPDO) were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis. Kissinger method, Friedman method, Flynn-Wall-Ozawa method and Coats-Redfern method have been used to determine the activation energies of PPDO degradation. The results showed that the thermal stability of PPDO in pure nitrogen is higher than that in air atmosphere. The analyses of the solid-state processes mechanism of PPDO by Coats-Redfern method and Criado et al. method showed: the thermal degradation process of PPDO goes to a mechanism involving random nucleation with one nucleus on the individual particle (F₁ mechanism); otherwise, the thermal oxidative degradation process of PPDO is corresponding to a nucleation and growth mechanism (A₂ mechanism).     

Rhythmic growth of ring‐banded spherulites in blends of liquid crystalline methoxy‐poly(aryl ether ketone) and poly(aryl ether ether ketone)

Rhythmic growth of ring‐banded spherulites in blends of liquid crystalline methoxy‐poly(aryl ether ketone) (M‐PAEK) and poly(aryl ether ether ketone) (PEEK) has been investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarized light microscopy (PLM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. The measurements reveal that the formation of the rhythmically grown ring‐banded spherulites in the M‐PAEK/PEEK blends is strongly dependent on the blend composition. In the M‐PAEK‐rich blends, upon cooling, an unusual ring‐banded spherulite is formed, which is ascribed to structural discontinuity caused by a rhythmic radial growth. For the 50:50 M‐PAEK/PEEK blend, ring‐banded spherulites and individual PEEK spherulites coexist in the system. In the blends with PEEK as the predominant component, M‐PAEK is rejected into the boundary of PEEK spherulites. The cooling rate and crystallization temperature have great effect on the phase behavior, especially the ring‐banded spherulite formation in the blends. In addition, the effects of M‐PAEK phase transition rate and phase separation rate on banded spherulite formation is discussed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 3011–3024, 2007     

Melting behavior of poly(ether ether ketone) in its blends with poly(ether imide)

We detail the melting behavior of poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) and investigate its melting behavior in miscible blends with poly(ether imide) (PEI). The determination of the equilibrium melting point (T_m⁰) of PEEK is discussed by considering its inhomogeneous morphology. T_m⁰ is obtained by a long extrapolation of a Hoffman–Weeks plot to 384°C. Hindrance of PEEK crystal reorganization induced by PEI during heating is observed over the blend composition investigated (20–75 wt % PEEK). This behavior is correlated with the incorporation of PEI in the interlamellar zones of PEEK crystals. The interaction parameter χ of PEEK/PEI blends is estimated by the equilibrium melting point depression. This gives the interaction density B = ?1.2 cal/cm³, and x = ?0.40 at 400°C. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Compatibility effect on the thermal degradation behaviour of polypropylene blends with polyamide 6, ethylene propylene diene copolymer and polyurethane

The morphology and thermal behaviour of polypropylene/polyamide 6 (PP/PA6), polypropylene/copolymer ethylene propylene diene (PP/PEBAX) and polypropylene/rigid polyurethane (PP/PUR) blends compatibilised with polypropylene-graft-maleic anhydride (PP-g-MA) were studied using scanning electron microscopy and thermogravimetric analyses. The study focuses on the influence of different blends obtained by mixing a thermoplastic, thermoplastic elastomer or thermoset with PP, compatibilised with PP-g-MA. The compatibilising effect of PP-g-MA in an immiscible PP/PA6 blend induces a homogeneous dispersion due to interfacial adhesion. For the PP/PEBAX and PP/PUR binary blends studied slight changes in the morphology were observed with a continuous phase but the PEBAX or PUR domains remained in the PP matrix. The deconvolution of the TGA curve permitted an evaluation of the decomposition stage of the undiluted and blend systems. Thermal stability is slightly influenced by the position of the maximum decomposition rate temperature of the first derivative thermogravimetric curve (DTG). However, the DTG curve profile remains consistent. The activation energy of undiluted PP was in the range of 162–169 kJ mol⁻¹ determined by the Ozawa method. The stabilized activation energy value for all blends studied above a 0.4 weight-loss fraction is discussed.     

Synthesis and properties of poly(aryl ether ether ketone) copolymers with pendant methyl groups

Polyether ether ketone and polyether ether ketone copolymers were prepared by the nucleophilic substitution reaction of 4,4′-difluorobenzophenone with hydroquinone and with varying mole proportions of hydroquinone and methyl hydroquinone using sulfolane solvent in the presence of anhydrous K₂CO₃. The polymers were characterised by different physico-chemical techniques. The crystallinity of the polymers was found to decrease with increase in concentration of the methyl hydroquinone units in the polymer. Thermogravimetric studies showed that all the polymers were stable upto 430 °C with a char yield above 49% at 900 °C in N₂ atmosphere. The glass transition temperature was found to increase and the crystalline melting temperature and activation energy were found to decrease with increase in concentration of the methyl hydroquinone units in the polymer.     

Mechano-optical behavior in poly (ethylene terephthalate)/poly (ether imide) blends

Mechano-optical behavior and related structural evolution during uniaxial stretching of melt miscible poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET)/poly (ether imide) (PEI) blends were studied near their glass transition temperature using an instrumented machine that measures true stress, true strain and spectral birefringence simultaneously. Stretching from amorphous state, two distinct stress-optical regimes were observed at temperatures between T_g and T_cc (cold crystallization). Near T_g, a typical photoelastic behavior persists until a critical temperature above which temperature independent initial stress optical behavior is observed. At those temperatures above T_g, where glassy behavior is observed, decreasing stretching rate was also found to eliminate this glassy photo elastic regime leading to the observation of a linear initial stress optical behavior that becomes temperature independent as expected from linear stress optical rule. Increasing PEI concentration in the blends suppresses crystallizability and increases temperature at which initial elastic region disappears giving way to pure liquid behavior where linear stress optical behavior is observed. This is attributed to the increase and broadening of the glass transition temperature with the addition of noncrystallizable PEI. In PET/PEI blends, the stress-optical coefficient (SOC), determined in a linear stress optical regime, was found to increase linearly with the increase in PEI concentration.     

几种甲基取代的聚醚酮酮的合成与表征

聚芳醚酮是一类热、电、机械性能优异的热塑性工程塑料,其合成方法有亲电取代法和亲核取代法．近年来,通过改变主链上醚酮键的比例和次序以及在主链上引入ｓｐ３杂化原子团,如砜基、烷基,对其进行结构上的改性研究已有很多报道［１４］．另一种结构上的改性研究是在...     

A Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy study of the crystallization behaviour of poly (ether ether ketone)/poly (ether imide) blends

This paper describes a study of the crystallization behaviour of blends consisting of the polymers poly (ether ether ketone) (PEEK) and poly (ether imide) (PEI) using Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy. The annealing process of PEEK was followed for the virgin polymer and also when it was blended with PEI. The data presented show that the crystallization process of PEEK is inhibited by the presence of the PEI, but the extent of the crystallinity is increased. There is also evidence that the presence of the PEI induces premelting of the PEEK.     

聚醚醚酮/聚醚醚酮酮共混体系的熔融和等温结晶行为

采用熔融共混方法制备了聚醚醚酮和聚醚醚酮酮的共混物,用DSC对共混物的熔融行为和等温结晶行为进行了研究.结果表明,共混物熔点随聚醚醚酮含量增加而降低,但与聚醚醚酮酮有相同的平衡熔点,二者共混没有改变其结晶的成核与生长机制.     

Thermal behavior and phase behavior in blends of liquid crystalline poly(aryl ether ketone) and poly(aryl ether ether ketone) containing thioether units

Thermal behavior and phase behavior in blends of liquid crystalline poly(aryl ether ketone) with lateral methoxy groups (M-PAEK) and poly(aryl ether ether ketone) containing thioether units (S-PEEK) have been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized light microscopy (PLM) techniques. The results indicate that the composition of the blends has great effect on the phase behavior and morphology. Thin films of pure M-PAEK and S-PEEK crystallized from the melts exhibit typical mosaic and spherulitic structures, respectively. For the blends with higher M-PAEK contents (> 50%), an unusual ring-banded spherulite with structural discontinuity is formed. The bright core and rings of the ring-banded spherulites under PLM are composed of M-PAEK phase, while the dark rings consist mainly of S-PEEK phase. For the 50:50 M-PAEK/S-PEEK blend, the ring-banded spherulites and S-PEEK spherulites coexist, which implies that a partial phase separation between the two components takes place in the melting state. In S-PEEK-rich blends, a volume-filled spherulite is produced. In addition, the effect of isothermal crystallization temperature on the phase behavior, especially the ring-banded spherulite formation in the blends, is discussed.     

热塑性聚酰亚胺与聚醚醚酮共混物的等温结晶动力学

采用熔融共混方法制备了热塑性聚酰亚胺(TPI)与聚醚醚酮(PEEK)的共混物; 用示差扫描量热分析(DSC)研究了共混物的等温结晶动力学. 分别采用Avrami方程和Hoffman-Lauritzen方程分析共混物的等温结晶动力学、端表面自由能(σe)和分子链折叠功(q). 结果表明, 加入TPI后PEEK的结晶速率降低, 结晶活化能、σe和q均增加. 但这些数值的变化与TPI含量不呈线性关系, 并从共混物的相容性和表面形貌给出了可能的解释.     

Morphology control of sulfonated poly(ether ketone ketone) poly(ether imide) blends and their use in proton-exchange membranes

Polymer blends based on sulfonated poly(ether ketone ketone) (SPEKK) as the proton-conducting component and poly(ether imide) (PEI) as the second component were considered for proton-exchange membranes (PEMs). The PEI was added to improve the mechanical stability and lower the water swelling in the fuel cell environment. Membranes were cast from solution using N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and dimethylacetamide (DMAc). The ternary, polymer/polymer/solvent, phase diagram was determined to provide guidance on how to control the morphology during solvent casting of blend membranes.

For blends of SPEKK (ion-exchange capacity = 2 mequiv/g) with PEI as the minority component, the morphology consisted of dispersed particles of 0.5–6 μm. Larger particles were achieved by increasing the PEI content and/or lowering the casting temperature. High-temperature annealing after solution casting did not affect the morphology of blend membranes, due to the low mobility and compatibility of the two polymers.

The possible use of SPEKK/PEI blends in PEMs is discussed in terms of existing theories of ion transport in polymers.     

Radiation degradation of poly(arylene ether ketone)s

The resistance of five poly(arylene ether ketone)s with related chemical structures to degradation by ionizing radiation has been studied by ESR spectroscopy and yields of volatile products. All of the polymers showed high resistance to radiation with low yields of radicals after irradiation in vacuum at 77 K (when up to 84% of the radicals were identified as radical anions) and much lower yields at 300 K. The yields of volatile products were much less than reported for poly(arylene sulfone)s [1, 2]. Methyl substitution on a main-chain aromatic ring decreased the radiation resistance, but methane only comprised 10% of the volatile products from the methyl-substituted polymers. A polymer containing an isopropylidene group in the main chain and a substituent aromatic carbonyl showed significantly decreased radiation resistance. Extremely low radical yields were obtained after irradiation in air at 300 K, contrary to many polymers. XPS analysis showed an increase in C–O bonds on the surface after irradiation in air.