Abstract
Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is one of the most prevalent polymers in the world due to its combined thermal, mechanical, and gas barrier attributes. Blending PET with other polymers is an appealing strategy to further tailor properties to meet the needs of an even more diverse range of applications. Most blends with PET are macrophase-separated; only a few miscible systems have been reported. Here, the miscibility of the aromatic polyesters poly(salicylic glycolide) (PSG) and poly(salicylic methyl glycolide) (PSMG) with PET is described. Both PSG and PSMG have similar chemical structures to PET but are derived from sustainable resources and readily degradable. This study suggests that they are fully miscible with PET over the entire composition range, which is attributed to favorable interactions with PET. Negative polymer-polymer interaction parameters (χ) were determined using Flory-Huggins theory to describe melting temperature variations in the blends. In addition, the PET blends showed mechanical properties that are intermediate between the two homopolymers.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 450-460 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Journal of Physical Chemistry B |
| Volume | 125 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 14 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We acknowledge our principal funding source the National Science Foundation Center for Sustainable Polymers at the University of Minnesota, which is a National Science Foundation supported Center for Chemical Innovation (CHE-1901635). We thank Yangming Kou for experimental support (XRD), and C. Maggie Lau, Charles J. McCutcheon and Keiichiro Nomura for helpful feedback.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 American Chemical Society.
PubMed: MeSH publication types
- Journal Article
- Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.