STRUCTURAL-CHEMICAL STUDY OF PHOTOSENSITI VE WATER-SOLUBLE COPOLYAMIDES

The grafting of benzoin to copolyamide is shown to affect the structur e of polymer significantly. This effect is shown to be due to the part ial destruction of hydrogen bonds, the formation of new bonds involvin g benzoin, and to the association of benzoin molecules with each other to form separate microdomains. This last process occurs because of th e thermodynamic incompatibility of benzoin with copolyamide. The addit ion of benzoin to the initial reaction mixture changes the flexibility of the copolyamide chains resulting in crystallization from the highl y elastic state. Thermophysical studies show that segregation within a microdomain is governed by the accumulation of benzoin in the amorpho us regions of copolyamide.