MELTING BEHAVIOR, MISCIBILITY, AND HYDROGEN-BONDED INTERACTIONS OF POLY(EPSILON-CAPROLACTONE) POLY(4-HYDROXYSTYRENE-CO-METHOXYSTYRENE) BLENDS/

The miscibility of poly(4-hydroxystyrene-co-methoxystyrene) (HSMS) and poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) was investigated by differential sca nning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). HSMS/PCL blends were found to be miscible in the whole composition ran ge by detecting only a glass transition temperature (T-g), for each co mposition, which could be closely described by the Fox rule. The cryst allinity of PCL in the blends was dependent on the T-g of the amorphou s phase. The greater the HSMS content in the blends, the lower the cry stallinity. The polymer-polymer interaction parameter, chi(32), was ca lculated from melting point depression of PCL using the Nishi-Wang equ ation. The negative value of chi(32) obtained for HSMS/PCL blends has been compared with the value of chi(32) for poly(4-hydroxystyrene) (P4 HS)/PCL blends. The specific nature, quantitative analysis, and averag e strength of the intermolecular interactions in HSMS/PCL and P4HS/PCL blends have been determined at room temperature and in the molten sta te by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR) measureme nts. The FTIR results have been in good correlation with the thermal b ehavior of the blends. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.