MORPHOLOGY AND THERMAL BEHAVIOUR OF POLY(METHYL METHACRYLATE)/POLY(ETHYLENE GLYCOL) SEMI-INTERPENETRATING POLYMER NETWORKS

Abstract

Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) networks and linear poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) can form semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (semi-IPNs), i.e.PMMA/PEG semi-IPNs.The morphology and thermal behaviors of PMMA/PEG semi-IPNs was studied by DSC, TEM, Optical Microscopy, and SEM.The results indicated that the content of PEG and the cross-linking density of PMMA networks have an important influence on the phase separation in the PMMA/PEG semi-IPNs.When the content of PEG and cross-linking density is more than 35 and 3.5 wt%, respectively, PMMA/PEG semi-IPNs are a mixture of PEG in the crystalline state with PMMA networks in the amorphous state.