DEVELOPMENT OF MISCIBLE BLENDS OF POLYAMIDE-6 AND MANGANESE SULFONATED POLYSTYRENE USING SPECIFIC INTERACTIONS

Interpolymer interactions involving manganese sulfonate and amide groups were used to develop miscible blends of polyamide-6 and a functionalized polystyrene containing 10.1 mol % manganese sulfonate groups. The polymers were miscible over the entire range of composition as evidenced by a single, composition-dependent T(g). The T(g)'s for the blends exhibited positive deviation from a weight average of the two component polymer T(g)'s. Interaction parameters, chi, were determined from melting point depression data. The chi's were large and negative, indicating strong interactions between the component polymers. Infrared spectra confirmed that these specific interactions were hydrogen-bonding, ion-dipole, and complexation interactions involving the manganese sulfonate and amide groups.