Abstract
AbstractAn ethylene‐vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) was chemically modified by the introduction of pendent thiol groups (EVA‐SH) suitable for chain transfer. The resulting copolymer was grafted with 4‐phenylazophenyl 4‐(4‐acryloyloxybutoxy)benzoate, a liquid crystalline monomer (LCM), initiated by AIBN. Grafting was performed at LCM/EVA‐SH mass ratios of 10, 5, 2 and 1 in the feed. The grafting degree, i.e., the fraction of LC polymer in the graft copolymer, ranged from ca. 5–30 wt.‐%. The thermal transitions were investigated by DSC, pointing at marked microphase separation between LC and polyethylene moieties. The anisotropic properties of the graft copolymers were confirmed by cross‐polarized light microscopy. All the samples showed birefringence at 140°C, some only on shearing however.
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