THE THERMAL-PROPERTIES OF POLYPHOSPHAZENES SYNTHESIZED BY THE ANIONICALLY INITIATED POLYMERIZATION OF PHOSPHORANIMINES

The thermal properties of a number of polyphosphazene random and block copolymers synthesized by the anionic polymerization of phosphoranimi nes have been examined by differential scanning calorimetry and correl ated with variable-temperature wide-angle X-ray scattering. These stud ies show the effect of structure, molecular weight, composition, side groups and thermal history on the thermal transitions of these materia ls. In addition, annealing studies were performed to estimate the degr ee of crystallinity and attempts were made to detect microphase separa tion by small-angle X-ray scattering.