BLENDS OF POLY(MONOALKYLITACONATES) POLY(VINYLPYRIDINES) AND MODEL MOLECULES

The compatibility in blends containing poly(monoalkylitaconates) (PMAI) and poly(vinylpyridines (PVPy) by several analytic techniques i.e, viscometry, UV-VIS spectrophotometry, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) Furier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometry (FTIR) was studied. Blends of PVPy with PMAI give rise to insoluble products irrespective of the starting composition, which can be attributed to interpolymer complex formation. From UV-VIS it is possible to observe miscibility behaviour between polymers. By DSC the thermograms observed are similar to those of PMAI but different from those of pure PVPy. A variation of the wavenumber of the carbonyl group of PMAI with composition is observed by FTIR, which is another argument to suspect miscibility. In order to study the effect of the molecular weight of the components on the miscibility, the analysis of blends containing PVPy and the corresponding poly(moalkylitaconates) monomer analogues was performed. Compatibility is observed in these cases but with important differences between the magnitudes of the variations relative to the polymeric blends. Miscibility is unfavoured as the molecular weight of the components increases, in good agreement with theory.