BLENDS OF POLY(2,6-DIMETHYL-1,4-PHENYLENE OXIDE) POLY(STYRENE-CO-METHACRYLIC ACID) POLY(ETHYL METHACRYLATE-CO-4-VINYLPYRIDIRSE)

The miscibility of poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) with poly(styrene-coacrylic acid) (SAA) or poly(styrene-co-methacrylic acid) (SMA) containing respectively up to 22 mol% of acrylic or methacrylic acid was studied by Differential Scanning Calorimetry and viscosimetry. All PPO/SAA or PPO/SMA blends containing 60% or less by weight of PPO were miscible and showed only one glass transition temperature (Tg).Above 60% of PPO, two Tg's were however observed for the blends in which the acid content in the SAA or SMA reaches 20% or 12% by mole respectively; the higher Tg is slightly lower than the one of pure PPO, while the lower one corresponds to a miscible blend of lower content of PPO.A DSC study showed that depending on the blend ratio, two or three glass transition temperatures were observed when a copolymer of ethyl methacrylate containing 8 mol% of 4-vinylpyridine (EM4VP-8) was added to miscible PPO/SMA-12 blends. The PPO dissolution in the SMA-12 copolymer was affected by the specific interactions that occurred between this latter copolymer and the EM4VP-8.