Morphology of Nylon-6 blends with styrenic polymers

The morphology of blends of styrenic polymers in a matrix of 75% Nylon-6 prepared in a Brabender Plasti-Corder was examined by scanning electron microscopy. Styrene/acrylonitrile copolymers (SAN) form smaller particles as the AN level increases owing to the corresponding decrease in the SAN–polyamide interfacial tension. Various styrenic polymers containing functional groups, maleic anhydride or oxazoline type, that can react with Nylon-6 during melt processing were added to the SAN phase which also led to a decrease in the particle size owing to the graft copolymer formed in situ. The effects of functional group type, amount of functional groups per chain, amount of functional polymer added, and the miscibility of the styrene/maleic anhydride (SMA) and SAN copolymers on the morphology of the styrenic phase in the Nylon-6 matrix are described. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE AND MORPHOLOGY OF NASCENT SAMPLES OF SYMMETRIC AROMATIC POLYESTERS——Ⅱ. POLY(p-PHENYLENE 2,6-NAPHTHALATE)

Confined thin film melt polymerization (CTFMP) of naphthalene chloride/hydroquinone (NCMQ, 1/1, molar)mixtures at polymerization temperatures (T_p) below ca. 300℃ resulted in relatively thick, elongated crystals. Polymerizationof NC/HQ above 300℃ between glass yielded well-formed lamellar crystals ca. 100 A thick. Phase Ⅰ and Ⅱ [001] EDpatterns were obtained for all T_p, the relative amount of phase Ⅰ increasing with T_p. Polymerization of naphthalenedicarboxylic acid/hydroquinione diacetate 1/1 mixtures at high T_p also yielded lamellar crystals that "curled up" off of thesubstrate. When the high temperature CTFMP polymerization was conducted between mica, aggregates of lamellae on-edgedeveloped but epitaxial growth did not occur. Epitaxial growth of lamellae between mica could be obtained, however, byconfined thin film solution polymerization, with both of the latter samples yielding apparently related ED patterns from adifferent unit cell than phase Ⅰ or Ⅱ. Fiber patterns, obtained from sheared samples, indicated considerably greater crystaldisorder than in the nascent crystals. Refinement of the phase Ⅰ unit cell parameters, based on the [001] and [01 1] EDpatterns, with modeling based on Cerius~2, suggests a monoclinic phase Ⅰ unit cell with a = 7.76, b = 5.71, c = 14.99 A, α = γ= 90°, β= 99.7°, ρ = 1.47 g/cm~3, space group P12_1/al.     

Synthesis of self‐photosensitizing polyesters containing donor–acceptor norbornadiene moieties and benzophenone groups and their photochemical reactions

The ring‐opening copolymerization of a glycidyl ester derivative having a benzophenone group and the donor–acceptor norbornadiene (D‐A NBD) dicarboxylic acid, 5‐(4‐methoxyphenyl)‐1,4,6,7,7‐pentamethyl‐2,5‐norbornadiene‐2,3‐dicarboxylic acid, monoglycidyl ester derivatives with D‐A NBD dicarboxylic anhydride using tetraphenylphosphonium bromide as a catalyst proceeded smoothly to give novel self‐photosensitizing NBD polymers in good yields. The molecular weight of these polyesters was about 4,000, and lower than that of analogous NBD polymers having no benzophenone group. All the synthesized NBD polymers isomerized smoothly to the corresponding quadricyclane (QC) polymers upon UV irradiation in tetrahydrofuran (THF) solution and in the film state. The rate of the photoisomerization of the D‐A NBD moieties in these polymers was higher than that of the D‐A NBD moieties in the polymer having no photosensitizing group. Furthermore, the rate of the photoisomerization of the D‐A NBD moieties in these polymers was also higher than that of the NBD polymer with low molecular weight photosensitizer in dilute solution. The photo‐irradiated polymers having QC moieties released thermal energies of 146–180 J/g. The D‐A NBD moieties contained in these NBD polymers possessed fair to good fatigue resistance. The degradation of the NBD moieties in these polymers was 15–30% after 50 repeated cycles of interconversion. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 2978–2988, 2007