Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol.73, No.9, 1707-1719, 1999
Syntheses and characterization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) modified with p-acetoxybenzoic acid
Though the structure and properties of a copolyester of 40 mole % of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and 60 mole % p-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHB) (PET/60PHB) and their blends have been well documented, no work has been reported in an open literature on the systematic investigation of the PET copolymers modified with broad range of p-acetoxybenzoic acid (PABA) composition as yet. In this study, several PETA-x copolyesters having various PAPA compositions from 10 to 70 mole % were prepared by the melt reaction of PABA and PET without a catalyst, where x denotes the mole % of PAPA. And the modified polyesters obtained were characterized by H-1-NMR spectrophotometry, X-ray diffraction pattern, polarizing microscopy, thermal analysis, and rheometry. The anisotropic phase appeared when x is above 50 mole % of PABA, and especially for the x's of 60 and 70 mole %, the nematic liquid crystalline texture appeared clearly on the whole matrix. As the mole % of PAPA increased, melting temperature, heat of fusion, crystalline temperature, degree of crystallinity, and the glass transition temperature of the modified PET were decreased, but the thermal stabilities of those copolyesters were increased. The dependence of melt viscosity on the shear rate for PETA-50 similar to 70 followed the typical rheological behavior of liquid crystalline polymers. Finally, it was concluded that the PETA-x copolyesters having compositions of higher than 50 mole % of PAPA exhibit the behavior of thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers.
Keywords:LIQUID-CRYSTAL POLYMERS;POLY(BUTYLENE TEREPHTHALATE);HYDROXYBENZOIC ACID;BLENDS;COPOLYESTER;PHASE;POLY(ETHYLENE-TEREPHTHALATE);COMPATIBILITY;COPOLYMERS;POLYESTER