Cellulose acetate/poly(methyl methacrylate) interpenetrating networks: synthesis and estimation of thermal and mechanical properties

IPN-type composites consisting of cellulose acetate (CA) and poly(methyl methacrylate; PMMA) were successfully synthesized in film form. In this synthesis, a mercapto group (SH)-containing CA, CA-MA, was prepared in advance by esterification of CA with mercaptoacetic acid, and then intercomponent cross-linking between CA-MA and PMMA was attained by thiol-ene polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) onto the CA-MA substrate. For comparison, polymer synthesis was also attempted to produce a semi-IPN type of composites comprising CA and cross-linked PMMA, via copolymerization of MMA and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as cross-linker in a homogeneous system containing CA solute. Thermal and mechanical properties of thus obtained polymer composites were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical analysis, and a tensile test, in correlation with the mixing state of the essentially immiscible cellulosic and methacrylate polymer components. It was shown that the specific IPN technique using thiol-ene reactions usually resulted in a much better compatibility-enhanced polymer composite, which exhibited a higher tensile strength and even an outstanding ductility without parallel in any film sample of CA, PMMA, and their physical blends.