USE OF SAXS TO CHARACTERIZE THE MORPHOLOGY OF POLY(POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL DIACRYLATE) EPOXY RESIN INTERPENETRATING NETWORKS/

Interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) have been synthesized from pr epolymers that form miscible blends. All IPNs made from polyacrylate ( (polyethylene glycol diacrylate), PEGDA) and epoxy (diglycidyl ether o f bisphenol A, DGEBA) can be made in phase separated states by incorpo rating crosslinks. However, blends of these prepolymers, having a nega tive Flory-Huggins interaction parameter, are highly miscible. This in dicates that formation of IPNs favours phase separation relative to bl ends. The microphase separation characteristics in the PEGDA/DGEBA IPN s were determined using smalt-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The Debye -Bueche and Guinier methods were used to calculate the correlation len gths of the segregated phases existing in the PEGDA/DGEBA IPNs. The re sults from SAXS showed that the size of the phase segregation zones ch anged with composition from about 50 to 100 Angstrom.