Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, Vol.38, No.1, 34-40, 2000
Infrared spectroscopic investigation of chain conformations and interactions in P(VDF-TrFE)/PMMA blends
The blending between poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and ferroelectric (vinylidene fluoride-trifluorethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE)] copolymer chains has been investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy over the full range of composition, for the copolymer with 50 mol % of trifluorethylene [TrFE]. The FTIR spectra revealed an absorption band at 1643 cm(-1), characteristic of the blend and absent in the individual constituents. We attributed this band to the interaction of the carbonyl group of the PMMA side chains with the disordered helical chains present in the amorphous region of the P(VDF-TrFE). We investigated the consequences of adding PMMA onto the formation of the all trans conformation of the copolymer chains and we demonstrated that the effects of thermal heating on the spectra are relevant only for the samples where the ferroelectric semicrystalline phase is present.
Keywords:vinylidene fluoride-trifluorethylene copolymers;polymer blends;ferroelectric phase transition