Interpolymer Complexes of Poly(N,N-Dimethylacrylamide/Poly(Styrene-co-Acrylic Acid): Thermal Stability and FTIR Analysis

Summary: This contribution will focus on the elaboration and characterizations of new materials with optimal properties as interpolymer complexes, upon mixing poly (styrene-co-acrylic acid containing 18, 27 and 32 mol % of acrylic acid (SAA-x) and poly (N,N-dimethylacrylamide) (PDMA), through the control of the densities, strength, self-association and accessibility of the interacting species. These elaborated interpolymer complexes, of different structures, investigated by DSC and TGA, exhibited a significant improved thermal stability. Their DSC analysis showed that all these materials showed one composition-dependence glass transition temperature Tg, indicating the formation of a single homogeneous phase. The different behaviors of Tg-initial composition observed with these systems were analyzed by the approaches of Kwei and Brostow et al., recently developed. The specific interactions that occurred within the elaborated materials were evidenced qualitatively by ATR/FTIR spectroscopy, from the appearance of new bands in the 1800–1550 cm^?1 region.