SOLUTION BEHAVIOR OF IONOMER BLENDS - II - ACID-BASE INTERACTIONS IN BLENDS OF POLY(PHENYLENE OXIDE)IONOMERS AND POLY(STYRENE-4-VINYLPYRIDINE)

The solution behavior of blends of poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxi de) (PPO) ionomers (carboxylated PPO, CPPO, or sulfonated PPO, SPPO) a nd poly(styrene-4-vinylpyridine) (PSVP) was investigated. The reduced viscosities of both the two series of blends were higher than those of comparable blends composed of PPO and PSVP. This was attributed to th e acid-base interactions resulting from proton transfer between the ac id groups of the PPO ionomer and the vinylpyridine groups of the PSVP. The existence of proton transfer between sulfonic acid and the pyridi ne group was confirmed by H-1 NMR studies on SPPO/4-VP blend. Moreover , the effects of functionalization level, solution concentration and c osolvent content on the strength of the acid-base interaction were dis cussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.