Electron microscopy of a rigid-rod/nylon thermoplastic molecular composite physical blend

Abstract

“Molecular composites” are a new class of structural polymers which are high-strength, high-modulus, thermally stable, and environmentally resistant. A rigid-rod, extended chain polymer component is used to reinforce a matrix of a ductile polymer with the intent of achieving a composite on the molecular level. The critical factor in processing a “molecular composites” is that the rigid-rod reinforcing component be well dispersed and not phase separate from the matrix component at any stage of processing. For the greatest versatility, a “molecular composites” system should be amenable to fabrication with traditional thermoplastic processing techniques. We previously reported on the morphology of “molecular composites” formed by coagulation spinning from a solution of rigid-rod/stiff-coil polymer blend and from a solution of a rigid-rod/stiff-coil triblock copolymer. Although these polymer systems formed “molecular composites”, they did not have a glass transition temperature below the degradation temperature and could not be consolidated by thermal processing techniques. In this paper we are reporting on the morphology of rigid-rod and flexible-coil thermoplastic blends which are processable by precipitation and thermal consolidation.