GRAFT-COPOLYMERS AND IONOMERIC ASSOCIATIONS FROM MIXTURES OF PHENOXY WITH ACID FUNCTIONALIZED POLYOLEFINS .1. REACTANTS, COMPOSITIONS, AND MORPHOLOGY

Mixtures of phenoxy, (a polyhydroxyether of bisphenol A) with respecti vely ethylene-propylene copolymer containing grafted anhydride groups along the chains (EP-g-MA), terpolymers of ethylene, t-butyl acrylate and acrylic acid (EAA), and the sodium ionomer of a terpolymer of ethy lene alkyl acrylate and methacrylic acid (I), were produced on a 25 cc torque rheometer. Small amounts of different organic sodium compounds , exhibiting varying levels of base strength, were also used to cataly ze the reaction between the functional groups of the two polymers in t he mixture. It was found that whereas EP-g-MA reacted with phenoxy to produce both graft copolymers and cross-linked products in varying amo unts, the terpolymers containing carboxylic acid groups in the backbon e of the polymer chains would never give rise to the formation of cros s-linked products even when large amount of a strong base, such as sod ium ethoxide, was used to catalyze the reactions. The latter mixtures exhibited the characteristics of ionomers, involving also alkoxide ani ons from the phenoxy component to an extent which depended on the base strength of the sodium compound used. The ionomeric mixtures displaye d morphological features varying from finely dispersed particles to co continuous phases. (C) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.