Syntheses and specific interactions of poly (hydroxyethyl methacrylate-b-vinyl pyrrolidone) diblock copolymers and comparisons with their corresponding miscible blend systems

Abstract

Combination of atom transfer radical and conventional free radical polymerizations has been successfully used to prepare poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate-b-vinyl pyrrolidone) (PHEMA-b-PVP) copolymers with controlled molecular weight and low polydispersity (< 1.4). The thermal behavior and specific interaction of PHEMA-b-PVP diblock copolymers and their corresponding PHEMA/PVP blends were characterized. The result shows that glass transition temperatures of diblock copolymers analysed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) are higher than those of the blends. Infrared and solid-state NMR spectroscopic analyses show that hydrogen-bonding interaction of hydroxyl-carbonyl groups of diblock copolymers was also greater than that of the blends. Measurement of the proton spin-lattice relaxation time in the rotating frame, (T-1P(H)), reveals that all diblock copolymers and blends possess one composition-dependent T H, indicating that both diblock copolymers and blends are homogeneous, which is consistent with the DSC analysis. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.