Specific interactions in poly(styrene‐co‐2‐hydroxyethyl acrylate)/poly(styrene‐co‐N,N‐dimethylacrylamide) systems

Amphiphilic copolymers of poly(styrene‐co‐2‐hydroxyethyl acrylate) (SHEA) and poly(styrene‐co‐N, N‐dimethylacrylamide) (SAD) of different compositions were prepared by free radical copolymerization and characterized by different techniques. Depending on the nature of the solvent and the densities of interacting species incorporated within the polystyrene matrices, novel materials as blends or interpolymer complexes with properties different from those of their constituents were elaborated when these copolymers are mixed together. The specific interpolymer interactions of hydrogen bonding type and the phase behavior of the elaborated materials were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy (FTIR). The specific interactions of hydrogen bonding type that occurred within the SHEA and within their blends with the SAD were evidenced by FTIR qualitatively by the appearance of a new band at 1626 cm^?1 and quantitatively using appropriate spectral curve fitting in the carbonyl and amide regions. The variation of the glass transition temperature with the blend composition behaved differently with the densities of interacting species. The thermal degradation behavior of the materials was studied by thermogravimetry. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Thermodynamic hydrogen bonding inpoly(styrene‐co‐acrylic acid)/poly(styrene‐co‐4‐N,N‐dimethylacrylamide) blends

FTIR study of the hydrogen bonding interactions within blends of different ratios of poly(styrene‐co‐acrylic acid) containing 18, 27, and 32 mol% of acrylic acid (SAA) and poly(styrene‐co‐N,N‐dimethylacrylamide) containing 17 mol% of N,N‐dimethylacrylamide (SAD‐17) was carried out qualitatively and quantitatively in the temperature range varying from room temperature to 210°C. Two new bands characterizing these interactions appeared in the 1800–1550 cm^–1 region at 1730 cm^–1 and 1616 cm^–1 and are attributed to “liberated” carbonyl group of the acidic copolymer and the “associated amide” carbonyl group, respectively. Equilibrium constants describing both the self‐association K₂ and inter‐association K_A and the enthalpy of hydrogen bonding formation in the different blends were experimentally determined using a curve fitting analysis of the infra‐red spectra as a function of temperature using the appropriate equations derived from the Painter‐Coleman association model. The obtained results confirm the miscibility of these blends in the considered temperature range from the negative values of the total free energy of mixing ΔG_M. Optimization of the extent of intermolecular interactions between the two polymers in these blends is investigated. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2008. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Interpolymer interactions and miscibility in poly(n‐butyl methacrylate‐co‐methacrylic acid)/poly(styrene‐co‐N,N‐dimethyl acrylamide) blends

The miscibility of poly(n‐butyl methacrylate‐co‐methacrylic acid) containing 18 mol % methacrylic acid (BMAM‐18) and poly(styrene‐co‐N,N‐dimethyl acrylamide) containing 17 mol % N,N‐dimethyl acrylamide (SAD‐17) was investigated with viscometry, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The DSC analysis showed a single glass‐transition temperature for all the blends, indicating that these copolymers were miscible over the entire composition range. The glass‐transition temperatures of these blends were higher than those calculated with the additivity rule. This was characteristic of the presence of specific interactions. The interactions between BMAM‐18 and the tertiary amide of SAD‐17 were studied with FTIR spectroscopy, which revealed that hydrogen‐bonding interactions occurred between the hydroxyl groups of BMAM‐18 and the carbonyl amide of SAD‐17. A new band characterizing these interactions appeared around 1613 cm^?1. The quantitative results showed that the fraction of the associated amide increased with an increase in the amount of the acidic BMAM‐18 copolymer. Although BMAM‐18 and SAD‐17 led to homogeneous solutions in butan‐2‐one, as the concentration of N,N‐dimethyl acrylamide increased to 32 mol % [as within the poly(styrene‐co‐N,N‐dimethyl acrylamide) containing 32 mol % N,N‐dimethyl acrylamide], complexation occurred when this latter compound was mixed with BMAM‐18 in butan‐2‐one. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 2717–2724, 2006     

Effect of tacticity of poly(methyl methacrylate) on the miscibility with poly(styrene‐co‐acrylonitrile)

Isotactic, atactic, and syndiotactic poly(methyl methacrylates) (PMMAs) (designated as iPMMA, aPMMA, and sPMMA) with approximately the same molecular weight were mixed separately with poly(styrene‐co‐acrylonitrile) (abbreviated as PSAN) containing 25 wt % of acrylonitrile in tetrahydrofuran to make three polymer blend systems. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to study the miscibility of these blends. The results showed that the tacticity of PMMA has a definite impact on its miscibility with PSAN. The aPMMA/PSAN and sPMMA/PSAN blends were found to be miscible because all the prepared films were transparent and showed composition dependent glass transition temperatures (T_gs). The glass transition temperatures of the two miscible blends were fitted well by the Fox equation, and no broadening of the glass transition regions was observed. The iPMMA/PSAN blends were found to be immiscible, because most of the cast films were translucent and had two glass transition temperatures. Through the use of a simple binary interaction model, the following comments can be drawn. The isotactic MMA segments seemed to interact differently with styrene and with acrylonitrile segments from atactic or syndiotactic MMA segments. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 74: 2894–2899, 1999     

Miscibility of polymer blends of poly(styrene‐co‐4‐hydroxystyrene) with bisphenol‐A polycarbonate

The miscibility of blends of bisphenol‐A polycarbonate (BAPC) and tetramethyl bisphenol‐A polycarbonate (TMPC) with copolymers of poly(styrene‐co‐4‐hydroxystyrene) (PSHS) was studied in this work. It has been demonstrated that BAPC is miscible with PSHS over a region of approximately 45–75 mol % hydroxyl groups in the copolymer. TMPC has a wider miscible window than BAPC when blended with PSHS. The blend miscibility was considered to be driven by the intermolecular attractive interactions between the hydroxyl groups of the PSHS and the π electrons of the aromatic rings of both polycarbonates (PCs). As the FTIR measurements showed, after blending of BAPC with PSHS, there is no visible shift of the carbonyl band of BAPC at 1774 cm⁻¹, whereas the stretching frequency of the free hydroxyl groups of the copoly‐ mers at 3523 cm⁻¹ disappeared. The large positive values of the segment interaction energy density parameter B_st‐HS calculated from the group contribution approach indicated that the intramolecular repulsive interaction may also have played a role in the promotion of the blend miscibility. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 74: 639–646, 1999     

Thermal properties of blends of poly(hydroxybutyrate‐co‐hydroxyvalerate) and poly(styrene‐co‐acrylonitrile)

Thermal properties of blends of poly(hydroxybutyrate‐co‐hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and poly(styrene‐co‐acrylonitrile) (SAN) prepared by solution casting were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry. In the study of PHBV‐SAN blends by differential scanning calorimetry, glass transition temperature and melting point of PHBV in the PHBV‐SAN blends were almost unchanged compared with those of the pure PHBV. This result indicates that the blends of PHBV and SAN are immiscible. However, crystallization temperature of the PHBV in the blends decreased approximately 9–15°. From the results of the Avrami analysis of PHBV in the PHBV‐SAN blends, crystallization rate constant of PHBV in the PHBV‐SAN blends decreased compared with that of the pure PHBV. From the above results, it is suggested that the nucleation of PHBV in the blends is suppressed by the addition of SAN. From the measured crystallization half time and degree of supercooling, interfacial free energy for the formation of heterogeneous nuclei of PHBV in the PHBV‐SAN blends was calculated and found to be 2360 (mN/m)³ for the pure PHBV and 2920–3120 (mN/m)³ for the blends. The values of interfacial free energy indicate that heterogeneity of PHBV in the PHBV‐SAN blends is deactivated by the SAN. This result is consistent with the results of crystallization temperature and crystallization rate constant of PHBV in the PHBV‐SAN blends. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 77: 673–679, 2000     

Viscoelastic properties of blends of poly(methyl methacrylate) and poly(styrene‐co‐acrylonitrile) having various acrylonitrile contents

Dynamic viscoelastic properties of blends of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and poly(styrene‐co‐acrylonitrile) (SAN) with various AN contents were measured to evaluate the influence of SAN composition, consequently χ parameter, upon the melt rheology. PMMA/SAN blends were miscible and exhibited a terminal flow region characterized by Newtonian flow, when the acrylonitrile (AN) content of SAN ranges from 10 to 27 wt %. Whereas, PMMA/SAN blends were immiscible and exhibited a long time relaxation, when the AN content in SAN is less than several wt % or greater than 30 wt %. Correspondingly, melt rheology of the blends was characterized by the plots of storage modulus G′ against loss modulus G″. Log G′ versus log G″ plots exhibited a straight line of slope 2 for the miscible blends, but did not show a straight line for the immiscible blends because of their long time relaxation mechanism. The plateau modulus, determined as the storage modulus G′ in the plateau zone at the frequency where tan δ is at maximum, varied linearly with the AN content of SAN irrespective of blend miscibility. This result indicates that the additivity rule holds well for the entanglement molecular weights in miscible PMMA/SAN blends. However, the entanglement molecular weights in immiscible blends should have “apparent” values, because the above method to determine the plateau modulus is not applicable for the immiscible blends. Effect of χ parameter on the plateau modulus of the miscible blends could not be found. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Miscibility and crystallization kinetics of poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyvalerate)/ poly(methyl methacrylate) blends

The miscibility and crystallization kinetics of the blends of random poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyvalerate) [P(HB‐co‐HV)] copolymer and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized optical microscopy (POM). It was found that P(HB‐co‐HV)/PMMA blends were miscible in the melt. Thus the single glass‐transition temperature (T_g) of the blends within the whole composition range suggests that P(HB‐co‐HV) and PMMA were totally miscible for the miscible blends. The equilibrium melting point (T°_m) of P(HB‐co‐HV) in the P(HB‐co‐HV)/PMMA blends decreased with increasing PMMA. The T°_m depression supports the miscibility of the blends. With respect to the results of crystallization kinetics, it was found that both the spherulitic growth rate and the overall crystallization rate decreased with the addition of PMMA. The kinetics retardation was attributed to the decrease in P(HB‐co‐HV) molecular mobility and dilution of P(HB‐co‐HV) concentration resulting from the addition of PMMA, which has a higher T_g. According to secondary nucleation theory, the kinetics of spherulitic crystallization of P(HB‐co‐HV) in the blends was analyzed in the studied temperature range. The crystallizations of P(HB‐co‐HV) in P(HB‐co‐HV)/PMMA blends were assigned to n = 4, regime III growth process. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 91: 3595–3603, 2004     

Variations of the glass‐transition temperature in the imidization of poly(styrene‐co‐maleic anhydride)

The imidization of poly(styrene‐co‐maleic anhydride) (SMA) was conducted, and the glass‐transition temperatures (T_g's) of the resulting products were measured with differential scanning calorimetry. The contributions from functional groups of maleic anhydride, N‐phenylmaleamic acid, and N‐phenylmaleimide to T_g were examined. T_g increased in the order of SMA < styrene–N‐phenyl maleimide copolymer < styrene–N‐phenyl maleamic acid copolymer and followed the Fox equation. T_g of the imidized products of SMA could be controlled by the conversions of both ring‐opening and ring‐closing reactions. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 2418–2422, 2007     

The phase behavior and thermal stability of blends of poly(styrene‐co‐methacrylic acid)/poly(styrene‐co‐ 4‐vinylpyridine)

The hydrogen bonding and miscibility behaviors of poly(styrene‐co‐methacrylic acid) (PSMA20) containing 20% of methacrylic acid with copolymers of poly(styrene‐co‐4‐vinylpyridine) (PS4VP) containing 5, 15, 30, 40, and 50%, respectively, of 4‐vinylpyridine were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). It was shown that all the blends have a single glass transition over the entire composition range. The obtained T_gs of PSMA20/PS4VP blends containing an excess amount of PS4VP, above 15% of 4VP in the copolymer, were found to be significantly higher than those observed for each individual component of the mixture, indicating that these blends are able to form interpolymer complexes. The FTIR study reveals presence of intermolecular hydrogen‐bonding interaction between vinylpyridine nitrogen atom and the hydroxyl of MMA group and intensifies when the amount of 4VP is increased in PS4VP copolymers. A new band characterizing these interactions at 1724 cm⁻¹ was observed. In addition, the quantitative FTIR study carried out for PSMA20/PS4VP blends was also performed for the methacrylic acid and 4‐vinylpyridine functional groups. The TGA study confirmed that the thermal stability of these blends was clearly improved. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Miscibility and crystallization behavior of poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyvalerate)/poly(vinyl acetate) blends

The miscibility and crystallization behavior of poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyvalerate) (P(HB‐co‐HV))/poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) blends have been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized optical microscopy (POM). It was found that P(HB‐co‐HV)/PVAc blends were miscible in the melt over the whole compositions. Thus the blend exhibited a single glass transition temperature (T_g), which increased with increasing PVAc composition. The spherulitic morphologies of P(HB‐co‐HV)/PVAc blends indicated that the PVAc was predominantly segregated into P(HB‐co‐HV) interlamellar or interfibrillar regions during P(HB‐co‐HV) crystallization because of the volume‐filled spherulites. As to the crystallization kinetics study, it was found that the overall crystallization and crystal growth rates decreased with the addition of PVAc. The kinetics retardation was primarily attributed to the reduction of chain mobility and dilution of P(HB‐co‐HV) upon mixing with higher T_g PVAc. The overall crystallization rate was predominantly governed by the spherulitic growth rate and promoted by the samples treated with the quenched state because of the higher nucleation density. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 980–988, 2006     

Melt rheology of poly(ϵ‐caprolactone)/poly(styrene‐co‐acrylonitrile) blends

Dynamic viscoelastic properties for miscible blends of poly(?‐caprolactone) (PCL) and poly(styrene‐co‐acrylonitrile) (SAN) were measured. It was found that the time–temperature superposition principle is applicable over the entire temperature range studied for the blends. The temperature dependency of the shift factors a_T can be expressed by the Williams–Landel–Ferry equation: log a_T = ?8.86(T ? T_s)/(101.6 + T ? T_s). The compositional dependency of T_s represents the Gordon–Taylor equation. The zero‐shear viscosities are found to increase concavely upward with an increase in weight fraction of SAN at constant temperature, but concavely downward at constant free volume fraction. It is concluded that the relaxation behavior of the PCL/SAN blends is similar to that of a blend consisting of homologous polymers. It is emphasized that the viscoelastic functions of the miscible blends should be compared in the iso‐free volume state. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 82: 2037–2041, 2001     

Synthesis of poly[(2‐oxo‐1,3‐dioxolan‐4‐yl)methyl vinyl ether‐co‐N‐phenylmaleimide] and its miscibility in blends with styrene‐acrylonitrile or poly(vinyl chloride)

The aim of the study was to investigate the synthesis of a copolymer bearing cyclic carbonate and its miscibility with styrene/acrylonitrile copolymer (SAN) or poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC). (2‐Oxo‐1,3‐dioxolan‐4‐yl)methyl vinyl ether (OVE) as a monomer was synthesized from glycidyl vinyl ether and CO₂ using quaternary ammonium chloride salts as catalysts. The highest reaction rate was observed when tetraoctylammonium chloride (TOAC) was used as a catalyst. Even at the atmospheric pressure of CO₂, the yield of OVE using TOAC was above 80% after 6 h of reaction at 80°C. The copolymer of OVE and N‐phenylmaleimide (NPM) was prepared by radical copolymerization and was characterized by FTIR and ¹H‐NMR spectroscopies and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The monomer reactivity ratios were given as r₁ (OVE) = 0.53–0.57 and r₂ (NPM) = 2.23–2.24 in the copolymerization of OVE and NPM. The films of poly(OVE‐co‐NPM)/SAN and poly(OVE‐co‐NPM)/PVC blends were cast from N‐dimethylformamide. An optical clarity test and DSC analysis showed that poly(OVE‐co‐NPM)/SAN and poly(OVE‐co‐NPM)/PVC blends were both miscible over the whole composition range. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 77: 1809–1815, 2000     

Kinetics and simulation of the imidization of poly(styrene‐co‐maleic anhydride) with amines

The imidization of poly(styrene‐co‐maleic anhydride) with amines may improve some of its end‐use properties. The objective of this study was to examine the mechanism and kinetics with aniline (ANL) as an amine of the preparation of poly(styrene‐co‐N‐phenyl maleimide). The reaction was carried out in a tetrahydrofuran solution at 25–55°C and in an ethylbenzene solution at 85–120°C. The extent of the reaction was determined by conductance titration, a new and simple method. Two consecutive reactions were involved in the imidization: ring opening to produce an acido‐amide group and ring closing to form a corresponding imide group. The imidization rate was greatly influenced by the reaction temperature and the molar ratio of ANL to the anhydride. A model for the imidization kinetics over a wide range of reaction temperatures and concentration ranges was developed and validated. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 2744–2749, 2006     

Polymeric decontaminant: N,N‐dichloro poly(styrene‐co‐divinyl benzene) sulfonamide—synthesis,characterization and efficacy against simulant of sulfur mustard

N,N‐Dichloro poly(styrene‐co‐divinylbenzene) sulfonamide (1) reacts with 2‐chloro ethyl phenyl sulfide (2), a simulant of sulfur mustard (SM), at room temperature, yielding corresponding nontoxic sulfones and sulfoxides in aqueous as well as aprotic medium. The decontamination reaction was monitored by gas chromatography, and products were identified by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. N,N‐dichloro poly(styrene‐co‐divinylbenzene) sulfonamide was synthesized by three steps from a commercial starting material sulfonate cation‐exchange resin and characterized by FTIR, and TGA, and compressive strength by universal testing machine. The positive chlorine content of this polymer was checked by standard iodometry titration. The synthesized positive chlorine compound is observed to be a promising against a simulant of SM, chiefly in the situation where use of aqueous medium is precluded. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007     

Effect of poly(styrene‐co‐maleic anhydride) imidization on the miscibility and phase‐separation temperatures of poly(styrene‐co‐maleic anhydride)/poly(vinyl methyl ether) and poly(styrene‐co‐maleic anhydride)/ poly(methyl methacrylate) blends

The objective of this work was to study the miscibility and phase‐separation temperatures of poly(styrene‐co‐maleic anhydride) (SMA)/poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) and SMA/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) blends with differential scanning calorimetry and small‐angle light scattering techniques. We focused on the effect of SMA partial imidization with aniline on the miscibility and phase‐separation temperatures of these blends. The SMA imidization reaction led to a partially imidized styrene N‐phenyl succinimide copolymer (SMI) with a degree of conversion of 49% and a decomposition temperature higher than that of SMA by about 20°C. We observed that both SMI/PVME and SMI/PMMA blends had lower critical solution temperature behavior. The imidization of SMA increased the phase‐separation temperature of the SMA/PVME blend and decreased that of the SMA/PMMA blend. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Blends containing amphiphilic polymers. V. Compatibilization of N‐alkylitaconamic acid‐co‐styrene copolymers with interacting polymers

The phase behavior of blends containing N‐alkylitaconamic acid‐co‐styrene copolymers (NAIA‐co‐S) with poly(N‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone) (PVP) of two different weight average molecular weights (M _w ), poly(2‐vinylpyridine) (P2VPy) and poly(4‐vinylpyridine) (P4VPy), was analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Copolymers containing 80% S are miscible with PVP₁₀, PVP₂₄, and P4VPy over the whole range of composition. In the case of blends with P2VPy, miscibility is observed only for the first three members of the series, i.e., NEIA‐co‐S, NPIA‐co‐S, and NBIA‐co‐S. For copolymers containing hexyl to dodecyl moieties, phase separation is observed in blends with P2VPy. Copolymers containing 50% S are miscible over the whole range of composition irrespective of the homopolymer and the length of the side chain of the itaconamic moiety of the copolymer. This behavior is interpreted in terms of steric hindrance, in the sense that the copolymers with long side chains are not able to interact with the nitrogen of P2VPy because of the position in the aromatic ring. The interactions between copolymers and homopolymers are discussed in terms of specific interactions like hydrogen bonds between the itaconamic moiety and the different functional groups of the homopolymers, together with the hydrophobic interaction, which cannot be disregarded. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 2512–2519, 2006     

Exfoliated poly (styrene‐co‐methylstyrene) grafted‐polyaniline/layered double hydroxide nanocomposite synthesized by solvent blending method

Well defined poly (styrene‐co‐methylstyrene) grafted polyaniline/organo‐modified MgAl layered double hydroxide (LDH) was produced through solution intercalation method. After LDH nanoparticles were modified by the anion exchange reaction of MgAl (Cl) LDH with sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate, Poly (styrene‐co‐methylstyrene) copolymers were synthesized by “living” free radical polymerization and then brominated with N‐bromosuccinimide. Afterwards, 1,4‐phenylenediamine was linked to brominated copolymers and prepared functionalized copolymer with amine. Poly (St‐co‐MSt)‐g‐PANI, has been synthesized by adding solution of ammonium persulfate and p‐toluenesufonic acid in DMSO solvent. Finally, Poly (styrene‐co‐methylstyrene) grafted‐Polyaniline/LDH nanocomposites were prepared by solution intercalation method. Characterization of these well‐defined nanocomposites included FT‐IR, gel permeation chromatography, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimeter, transmission electron microscopy, and X‐ray diffraction. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011.     

Direct polymer reaction of poly(styrene‐co‐maleic anhydride): Polymeric imidization

Using direct polymer reaction of poly(styrene‐co‐maleic anhydride) (SMA), a synthesis of copolymer of styrene and N‐aryl succinimide (SMI) has been investigated. SMI copolymers were synthesized from SMA copolymers by a concerted two‐step reaction, which consisted of the condensation reaction (step 1) of SMA with aromatic amine to prepare a precursor, succinamic acid, for imide formation and the cyclodehydration reaction (step 2) of succinamic acid. In this article, the application of Searle's preparation method of N‐aryl or N‐alkyl maleimide to the direct polymer reaction for SMI was attempted. Compared with synthesis of monomeric imides, the imide formation in polymeric condition appeared to be a little more sensitive to the reaction condition. The optimum condition for maximum conversion was examined in terms of time, temperature, and the amount of reactants. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 71: 1187–1196, 1999     

Preparation and properties of poly(ether‐ester‐amide)/poly(acrylonitrile‐co‐butadiene‐co‐styrene) antistatic blends

A novel antistatic agent poly(ether‐ester‐amide) (PEEA) based on caprolactam, polyethylene glycol, and 6‐aminocaproic acid was successfully synthesized by melting polycondensation. The structure, thermal properties, and antistatic ability of the copolymer were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analyses, and ZC36 megohmmeter. Test results show that PEEA is a block copolymer with a melting point of 217°C and a thermal decomposition temperature of 409°C, together with a surface resistivity of 10⁸ Ω/sq. Antistatic poly(acrylonitrile‐co‐butadiene‐co‐styrene) (ABS) materials were prepared by blending different content of PEEA to ABS resin. The antistatic performances, morphology, and mechanical properties were investigated. It is indicated that the surface resistivity of PEEA/ABS blends decrease with the increasing PEEA content, and the excellent antistatic performance is obtained when the antistatic agent is up to 10–15%. The antistatic performance is hardly influenced by water‐washing and relative humidity, and a permanent antistatic performance is available. The antistatic mechanism is investigated. The compatibility of the blends was studied by scanning electron microscopy images. The ladder distribution of antistatic agent is formed, and a rich phase of antistatic agent can be found in the surface layer. The elongations at break of the blend are improved with the increasing antistatic agent; the tensile strength and the notched impact strength kept almost the same. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011.