TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENT INTERACTION PARAMETERS OF POLY(METHYL METHACRYLATE)/POLY(2-VINYL PYRIDINE) AND POLY(METHYL METHACRYLATE)/POLY(4-VINYL PYRIDINE) PAIRS

Abstract

Temperature-dependent interaction parameters (alpha) of poly(methyl methacrylate)/poly (2-vinyl pyridine) (PMMA/P2VP) pair and PMMA/poly(4-vinyl pyridine) (PMMA/P4VP) pair were obtained from the SAXS profiles at various temperatures, and curve fitting to the random phase approximation theory. For this purpose, symmetric P2VP-block-PMMA and P4VP-block-PMMA copolymers were synthesized anionically. The molecular weights of both block copolymers were controlled to exhibit the disordered state over the entire experimental temperatures. We found that the value of alpha for PMMA/P4VP was larger than PMMA/P2VP, similar to polystyrene (PS)/poly(vinyl pyridine) pairs. However, the difference between in alpha between PMMA/P2VP and PMMA/P4VP was much smaller than that between PS/P2VP and PS/P4VP. This might be attributed to the hydrophilic PMMA block compared with hydrophobic PS block. Finally, the order-to-disorder transition temperature for symmetric P2VP-block-PMMA copolymers was determined by small angle X-ray scattering and birefringence methods. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.