Miscibility of poly(vinyl acetate) and vinyl acetate‐ethylene copolymers with styrene‐acrylic acid and acrylate‐acrylic acid copolymers

Abstract

SYNOPSISPoly(viny1 acetate) and vinyl acetate-ethylene (VAE) copolymers compose one of the more important polymeric materials, widely employed in coating and adhesive applications. A new class of miscible polymer blends involving poly(viny1 acetate) and VAE with styreneacrylic acid and acrylate-acrylic acid copolymers has been found. Experimental windows of miscibility as a function of the ethylene content for VAE copolymers and the acrylic acid content of the acrylate-acrylic acid copolymers are observed (acrylate = methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, n-butyl acrylate, and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate). Employing well-established analog heat of mixing measurements, predicted windows of miscibility were compared with experimental results. Fair qualitative agreement was observed and supported the hypothesis that specific rejection arguments can be employed to explain the observed miscibility. Failure to quantitatively predict miscibility based on the analog heat of mixing measurements may be due to the higher association tendencies of the model compounds relative to acrylic acid units in the high molecular weight polymers. No miscible combinations were found for methyl methacrylate-acrylic acid copolymers or acrylate-methacrylic acid copolymers in admixture with poly(viny1 acetate) or the VAE copolymers, thus indicating the sensitivity of phase behavior to minor structural changes. VAE (30 wt % ethylene) copolymers were also noted to be miscible with several polymers previously noted to be miscible with poly(viny1 acetate), namely, poly(viny1idene fluoride), poly(ethy1ene oxide), and nitrocellulose. 0 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. I NTRO D UCTl ONPoly (vinyl acetate) and vinyl acetate copolymers are among the more important commodity polymers utilized in the large coating and adhesive markets. As such, polymer blends comprising vinyl acetatebased polymers are of significant interest. As vinyl acetate-based polymers have been available for over 60 years, a large number of blend combinations have been reported in the open and patent literature. The study presented here discusses a new class of polymer blends miscible with poly (vinyl acetate) ( PVAc) and vinyl acetate-ethylene (VAE) (270 wt % VAc ) copolymers, namely, acrylate-acrylic acid and styrene-acrylic acid copolymers.

Olefin-Metathesis-Derived Norbornene–Ethylene–Vinyl Acetate/Vinyl Alcohol Multiblock Copolymers: Impact of the Copolymer Structure on the Gas Permeation Properties

“…The pure poly(vinyl acetate) (PVOAc) is distinguished by a low level of gas permeability ( P (O 2 ) = 0.3–0.5 Barrer, Table 4 ) and a T g close to 35 °C. The introduction of ethylene units to its structure gradually lowers the T g of copolymers through −5 (12 mol% of Et) [ 45 ] and −26 (60 mol% of Et) to −125 °C (pure polyethylene) [ 46 ]. One can assume that the backbone flexibility in Et–VOAc copolymers grows with an increase in the number of ethylene fragments.…”

Vinyl Acetate Polymers

“…The T g of the blends and the crystallizability of the PEO depend on the composition. The miscibility window of poly(vinyl acetate) and its copolymers with alkyl acrylates can be broadened through the incorporation of acrylic acid as a third component (137). A description of compatible and incompatible blends of poly(vinyl acetate) and other copolymers has been compiled (138).…”

Mechanical properties of films prepared from model high‐glass‐transition‐temperature/low‐glass‐transition‐temperature latex blends

“…Unfortunately, few researchers have explored the influence of the degree of adhesion between the two polymer phases and the distribution of the high‐ T g particles within the low‐ T g copolymer matrix on the mechanical properties of the latex blend films. The main focus of the publications in this area has been on the relationship between the volume fraction of the high‐ T g particles and the mechanical properties of the latex blend films 3–5…”