The blend compatibility of methyl methacrylate (MMA)−benzyl methacrylate (BzMA) copolymers
with different monomer compositions has been studied to investigate their feasibility as plastic
optical fibers. Copolymers with variable comonomer composition were first synthesized, and
the blend compatibility between them was investigated by solution blending and melt blending.
The results of 1H NMR, ellipsometry, and differential scanning calorimetry indicate that the
copolymers synthesized in this study are random copolymers, with their refractive index and
the glass transition temperature varying linearly with their monomer content. While the solution-blended samples indicated immiscibility between copolymers with large differences in their
monomer composition, melt-blended samples indicated miscibility showing single glass transition
temperature and homogeneity in scanning electron micrographs. The difference between the
results of solution blends and melt blends may be attributed to the slow kinetics of phase
separation and the intensive shear energy input during melt blending. These results suggest
that MMA−BzMA random copolymers are appropriate materials applicable to the coextrusion
method of Park and Walker (U.S. Patent 89 929 161, 1997) for the fabrication of graded-index
plastic optical fibers.
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