| Abstract: | It is shown that ion-dipole interactions induce considerable miscibility enhancement in blends of styrene ionomers with poly(alkylene oxides). Dynamic mechanical studies, in conjunction with transparency and brittleness of the samples, are used to evaluate miscibility. The effect is clearly thermodynamics in that phase separation can be induced in miscible samples by raising the temperature, with miscibility reestablished ons cooling. The miscibility enhancement in these systems is compared with that resulting from hydrogen bonding. In addition to the styrene/alkylene oxide system, ion-dipole interactions are found to be effective in enhancing the miscibility of many ionic polymer/polar polymer pairs. The ionomers used in this study were styrene lithium methacrylate and ethyl acrylate lithium acrylate copolymers, while polyethers, polysulfides, polyesters, polyimines, and substituted polyethylenses served as polar polymers. |
