MISCIBILITY OF POLY(2-CHLOROSTYRENE) AND POLY(VINYL METHYL-ETHER) BLENDS

In this work, the miscibility of poly(2-chlorostyrene) (P2CS) and poly (vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) mixtures was characterized and compared to polystyrene (PS)/PVME blends. It was found, by light scattering, that P2CS/PVME blends exhibit a lower critical solution temperature. Fouri er transform infra-red spectra of these two blends indicate that the p resence of the chlorine atom strengthens the attraction between the ph enyl rings of P2CS and the electron lone pairs of the oxygen atoms on the PVME chains. This specific interaction is the main reason for the improvement of the miscibility of this particular blend in comparison to PS/PVME. These experimental results are in accord with the magnitud es of the binary interaction parameters, chi, of P2CS/PVME and PS/PVME blends estimated from the cloud point data based on the mean-field th eory. The experimental results obtained in this work provide a molecul ar basis for the interpretation of polymer-polymer miscibility.