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Phase behavior and phase separation in blends of a liquid crystalline polymer and an amorphous polymer containing hydrogen‐bonding interaction
Author(s) -
Chen Wenjie,
Wu Jian,
Jiang Ming
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
macromolecular chemistry and physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.57
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1521-3935
pISSN - 1022-1352
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1521-3935(19980801)199:8<1683::aid-macp1683>3.0.co;2-o
Subject(s) - materials science , phase (matter) , polymer , amorphous solid , miscibility , polymer chemistry , polymer blend , thermotropic crystal , hydrogen bond , spinodal decomposition , phase diagram , crystallography , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemistry , chemical engineering , copolymer , organic chemistry , molecule , composite material , liquid crystalline , engineering
The phase behavior and thermally induced phase separation in blends of poly{styrene‐ co ‐[ p ‐(2,2,2‐trifluoro‐1‐hydroxy‐1‐trifluoromethyl)ethyl‐α‐methylstyrene]} (PS(OH)) and a thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) were studied by optical microscopy (OM), infrared spectroscopy (IR) and time‐resolved light scattering (TRLS). PS(OH) contains strong proton‐donating groups —C(CF 3 ) 2 OH, and the LCP is poly[ p ‐( tert ‐butyl)phenylene fumarate] (PBPF), which is soluble in common solvents. For blends of PS(OH)/PBPF, the miscible region was found only at high PBPF compositions and low temperature due to intermolecular hydrogen bonding between —C(CF 3 ) 2 OH groups of PS(OH) and the phenolic OH end‐groups of PBPF according to IR. The PS(OH)/PBPF blend undergoes phase separation via spinodal decomposition (SD) during isothermal annealing in the two‐phase regime of phase diagram. The SD yielded unique Vv and Hv scattering patterns, which can be attributed to regular periodic phase‐separated structures composed of an anisotropic phase and an isotropic phase. Preliminary studies on the SD process by TRLS showed that the phase separation spontaneously occurs at a certain time, that might be associated with the presence of the LCP.