Macromolecules, Vol.37, No.9, 3459-3469, 2004
Nanostructured polyamide by reactive blending. 1. Effect of the reactive diblock composition
Reactive blending of phthalic anhydride end-capped polystyrene-b-polyisoprene diblock (PS-b-PIP-anh) with 80 wt % of polyamide 12 (PA12) results in the very rapid formation of a PS-b-PIP-b-PA triblock copolymer, which self-assembles with formation of characteristic nanoobjects, within the polyamide matrix. For instance, a vesicular nanostructure is formed in the particular case of a symmetric, lamellar-forming diblock copolymer. This morphology actually complies with the lower curvature possible for ABC lamellae diluted in a continuous C phase under shear. In contrast, when the diblock composition is typically asymmetric (at constant molecular weight), vesicles disappear in favor of a core-shell morphology with a cucumber-like suborganization. This spontaneous nanostructuration of the PA12 matrix is quite general. Indeed substitution of an amorphous primary amine end-capped styrene/acrylonitrile random copolymer (SAN-NH2) for PA12 results in exactly the same phase morphology upon reactive blending with PS-b-PIP-anh.