GRAFT-COPOLYMERS PREPARED BY ETHOXYLATION OF POLYAMIDE-12 AND POLY(ETHYLENE-CO-VINYLALCOHOL)

Graft copolymers consisting of polyamide 12 or poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) as backbone polymers and side chains of poly(ethylene oxide) have been synthesized. The amide and hydroxyl groups of the backbone p olymers were used as initiation sites for the polymerization of ethyle ne oxide (EO). Potassium tert-butoxide was used for ionization of the active groups, and the polymerization of EO was carried out in dimethy l sulfoxide. The graft copolymers were characterized with respect to m olecular weight and composition using elemental analysis, H-1-NMR, gel permeation chromatography, and FTIR. The size of the side chains vari ed between 300 and 1000 g/mol. Thermal properties were examined by DSC . The graft copolymers showed increasing crystallinity and increasing melt temperature with increasing molecular weight of the side chains.