Segmented copolymers of poly(phenylene ether) and polyester

Abstract

Copolymers of telechelic poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene ether) (PPE) segments with terephthalic methyl ester end groups (PPE-2T, 3500 g/mol) and poly(dodecane terephthalate) (PDDT) were made via a polycondensation reaction in the melt. The inherent viscosities of the segmented copolymers were high. The thermal properties of the copolymers were studied by DMA. The segmented block copolymers had a transparent melt at low (12 wt%) PDDT contents. The segmented block copolymers had at higher PDDT contents a non-transparent melt and two glass transition temperatures. The glass transition temperature of the PPE phase decreased strongly with PDDT content in the copolymer. The glass transition temperature of the PDDT phase increased moderately with PPE content. At low PPE contents the modulus of the PDDT increased strongly with increasing PPE content.