ABSTRACT:The specific interactions in blends of poly(mono-n-alkyl itaconate)s with two tertiary polyamides, the poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) (PDMA) and the poly(ethyloxazoline) (PEOX), were studied. Hydrogen bonding between carboxylic acid groups of poly(mono-n-alkyl itaconate)s and carbonyl groups of PDMA and PEOX was found. The interassociation extent was measured by spectral fitting of the Amide I band and reveals a loss of interassociating ability in blends with PDMA as the length of the size group of the poly(mono-n-alkyl itaconate) increases, while in blends with PEOX the interassociation degree remains constant for a given composition. This different behavior is attributed to the larger interspacing between vicinal carbonyl groups in PEOX. Spectral changes upon heating showed an increase of thermal stability of the polyacid in the blends, larger in blends with PDMA than PEOX. These changes are explained in terms of the hydrogen bonding and the rigidity of the system. Finally, the ratio of absortion coefficients for the Amide I band was obtained.KEY WORDS FTIR / Specific Interactions / Hydrogen Bonding / Poly(mono-n-alkyl itaconate)s / Poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) (PDMA) / Poly(ethyloxazoline) (PEOX) / During the past years, the study of polymer blends as alternative materials has greatly expanded. Miscibility of polymer blends can only be achieved when the entalpy of mixing is negative, since the entropic contribution to the free energy of mixing is negligible. Therefore, specific interactions at the molecular level will promote the formation of miscible polymer blends.Mixing of polyacids with polybases usually leads to hydrogen bonded miscible polymer blends. Poly(monomethyl itaconate) (PMMI) is an interesting polyacid due to its biotechnological origin that has been reported to be miscible with poly(ethyloxazoline) (PEOX) and poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) (PDMA).1 In the present work, we are interested in expanding the miscibility study to poly(mono-n-alkyl itaconate)s with alkyl side groups ranging from methyl to dodecyl. These polymers contain the same donor group, but side groups of different length, and thus, different steric hindrances are expected. As specific interactions are the responsible for miscibility, their strength and extent are foundamental parameters to explain the miscibility behavior of these polymer blends. Moreover, their study has an additional interest: these polymer systems are known to form interpolymer complexes in the appropiate medium and temperature conditions, 1,2 and further insight in their complexation behavior should be gained.Thus, the present work deals with a FTIR study of the specific interactions present in the poly(mono-nalkyl itaconate)/PDMA or PEOX blends. The extent of the interassociation is determined by spectral curve fitting methods. In addition, the spectral behavior with respect to temperature has been studied, and the differences of thermal stability observed have been discussed.
EXPERIMENTALThe polymerization of poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) (PDMA) has b...