Free radical polymerization of liquid ethylacrylate in the presence of zeolite 13X yielded PIPNs without crosslinker and IPNs if the crosslinker ethylene glycol dimethacrylate was present. We studied these materials both unextracted as well as partially extracted with a variety of solvents using DSC, SEM as well as Small Angle X‐ray Scattering (SAXS). These studies suggest that in the composites polyethylacrylate chains entered the internal pores of the zeolite. These chains had an extended state and did not exhibit a bulk glass transition, a similar behavior to that previously reported for polystyrene/zeolite 13X composite. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

No abstract

: Free-radical polymerization of liquid styrene and ethyl acrylate with or without ethylene diniethacrylate crosslinker in the presence of zeolite 13 X produces interpenetrating polymer networks (IPN's) or pseudo IPN 's in which polymer chains have grown and filled internal pores of the zeolite. A variety of methods of characterization including, solubility studies, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), 13C solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) provide supporting evidence for this. The polymer chains within the internal pores do not exhibit a bulk glass transition. This is part of a larger study of the glass transition of polymers confined to cavities or pores of various sizes.