Miscibility and spherulite growth kinetics in the poly(ethylene oxide)/poly(benzyl methacrylate) system

This study for the first time discovered miscibility in the binary blend of semicrystalline poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) with amorphous poly(benzyl meth acrylate) (PBzMA). Differential scanning calorimetry, optical and scanning electron microscopy, and infrared spectroscopy were performed to characteri ze and demonstrate miscibility in the PEO/PBzMA system. The glass-transitio n behavior and Fourier transform infrared results suggest that the intermol ecular interactions between the pairs were likely nonspecific and at best c omparable to those among the same constituent component. The melting-point depression study yielded chi = -0.1, indicating a relatively low interactio n strength. It is concluded that the phase behavior of the blend was miscib ility with nonspecific interactions, mostly a matched polar-polar intermole cular attraction. PEO spherulitic crystallization in the blend is discussed to support the miscibility behavior. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.