Poly(silylenemethylene)‐based polymer blends. III. Synthesis and properties of polymer blends containing siloxane‐crosslinked poly(silylenemethylene)s

Abstract

Soft–hard binary polymer blends consisting of amorphous poly(silylene methylene)s (PSMs) and crystalline poly(diphenylsilylenemethylene) were prepared by both melt processing at 360 °C and in situ polymerization at 300 °C. Linear and siloxane‐crosslinked PSMs were used as amorphous components for the purpose of determining how the crosslinks affected the interactions between the component polymers. Differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical analysis indirectly suggested that discernable differences between the blends containing linear and crosslinked PSMs were attributable to the degree of interactions between the amorphous and crystalline components. The morphological differences between these blends were studied with transmission electron microscopy. The dispersion phase was smaller in the blends containing crosslinked PSM than that in the blends containing linear PSM. This directly indicated that a larger interaction between the amorphous and crystalline phases was obtained by the introduction of crosslinks because of the smaller viscosity difference between the phases and a larger degree of polymer chain entanglement. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 257–263, 2003

Compatibilization of polystyrene/poly(butyl methacrylate)/poly[(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate] blends via concentrated emulsion polymerization

“…Block copolymer formation (type b), which usually involves a coupling or condensing agent, eg epoxide or anhydride,6–9 is of industrial interest. Compatibilization by formation of a slightly crosslinked copolymer (type c) usually involves reacting multiple pendant groups of one polymer with multiple pendant groups of the other 10. Compatibilization by formation of ionic bonds (type d)11, 12 is less common in industry.…”