Synthesis and dielectric analysis of aliphatic poly(carbonate-sulfone)s based on 1,4-bis(3-hydroxypropylsulfonyl) butane

High molecular weight aliphatic poly(carbonate-sulfone) homopolymer (PC-343) and random copolymer (PC-343-10) were synthesized from 1,4-bis(3-hydroxypropylsulfonyl)butane (Diol-343) and a 1/1 molar mixture of Diol-343 and 1,10-decanediol, respectively. As a comparison, an aliphatic polycarbonate homopolymer (PC-10) was prepared from 1,10-decanediol. While PC-10 exhibited a single melting peak during its DSC heating scan, both PC-343 and PC-343-10 exhibited multiple reproducible first-order transitions during DSC heating scans. Both PC-343 and PC-343-10 showed broad reflections in their WAXD diagrams; the crystalline order of PC-343 is higher than that of PC-343-10. Based on the DSC and WAXD results and our discovery on the liquid crystalline behavior of aliphatic poly(carbonate-sulfone)s from 1,3-bis(hydroxypropylsulfonyl)propane, we suggest PC-343 and PC-343-10 are liquid crystalline and the liquid crystalline phase formation is directed by the dipole–dipole interactions between sulfone groups. Films were obtained from these polymers by compression molding and dielectric analyses were conducted on them. One glass transition related dielectric relaxation was observed in PC-343-10. One glass transition related dielectric relaxation and one sub-glass transition related dielectric relaxation were observed in PC-343. The glass transition temperature increases with the increase of sulfone content in the polymers. A dramatic rise in dielectric constant with temperature was observed in PC-343 and PC-343-10 at low frequencies, which is probably due to the sulfone dipole interaction with the electrical field. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.