Simultaneous interpenetrating network properties

Ideally, a simultaneous interpenetrating network should have extensive mixing at the molecular level, even to the extent of forming one uniform phase. As with other polymer blends, blocks, and grafts, SIN s exhibit phase separation attributed to the low entropy of mixing of two polymers which limits interpenetration in the real case. Thus there is an apparent discrepancy between theory and practice however, the pursuit of the ideal has led to a new understanding of the ways that super-molecular structure can be controlled, and new understanding of the relationship between polymer structure and properties. 

Studies of preparation and properties of the so-called Simultaneous Interpenetrating Networks (SIN) occupy a special position among these works. SIN is a complex system of two or more three-dimensional network polymers which are chemically not bonded but are inseparable due to mechanical entanglement of chains. A detailed description of the preparation and properties of SIN is given by Lipatov and Ser-geeva . ... 

Valero, M.E, Pulido, J.E., Ramirez, A., Cheng, Z., 2009. Simultaneous interpenetrating networks of polyurethane from pentaerythritol-modified castor oil and polystyrene structure-property relationships. 1. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 86, 383-392. 

These reactions can also be used to form networks that interpenetrate,18,237,261-267 as illustrated in Figure 4.10.237 For example, one network could be formed by a condensation end-linking of hydroxyl-terminated short chains and the other by a simultaneous but independent addition end-linking of vinyl-terminated long chains. Interpenetrating networks are of interest because they can be unusually tough, and could have unusual dynamic mechanical properties. 

Simultaneous and sequential IPNs based on various polymeric systems have been prepared using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as the host network (3-8). These systems include poly(ether-urethane), polystyrene, poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenyleneoxide), polyacrylic acid, PDMS, polymethylmethacrylate, polyethylene oxide (PEO)... as the guest network. Some semi-interpenetrating networks (s-IPNs) based either on a linear polymer embedded in a polysiloxane network (5,9,10) or on a linear polysiloxane combined with a PEO network (8) have also been described. In some cases, PDMS has been replaced by polyaromatic siloxanes such as polydiphenyl or polymethylphenylsiloxanes (10-12). The focus of this paper concerns the preparation and properties of IPNs and s-IPNs based on polysiloxanes and poly(diethyleneglycol bis-allylcarbonate) (13,14). 

Hyperbranched polyurethanes are constmcted using phenol-blocked trifunctional monomers in combination with 4-methylbenzyl alcohol for end capping (11). Polyurethane interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) are mixtures of two cross-linked polymer networks, prepared by latex blending, sequential polymerization, or simultaneous polymerization. IPNs have improved mechanical properties, as weU as thermal stabiHties, compared to the single cross-linked polymers. In pseudo-IPNs, only one of the involved polymers is cross-linked. Numerous polymers are involved in the formation of polyurethane-derived IPNs (12). 

This is a theoretical study on the entanglement architecture and mechanical properties of an ideal two-component interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) composed of flexible chains (Fig. la). In this system molecular interaction between different polymer species is accomplished by the simultaneous or sequential polymerization of the polymeric precursors [1 ]. Chains which are thermodynamically incompatible are permanently interlocked in a composite network due to the presence of chemical crosslinks. The network structure is thus reinforced by chain entanglements trapped between permanent junctions [2,3]. It is evident that, entanglements between identical chains lie further apart in an IPN than in a one-component network (Fig. lb) and entanglements associating heterogeneous polymers are formed in between homopolymer junctions. In the present study the density of the various interchain associations in the composite network is evaluated as a function of the properties of the pure network components. This information is used to estimate the equilibrium rubber elasticity modulus of the IPN. 

Polyurethane-acrylic coatings with interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) were synthesized from a two-component polyurethane (PU) and an unsaturated urethane-modified acrylic copolymer. The two-component PU was prepared from hydroxyethylacrylate-butylmethacrylate copolymer with or without reacting with c-caprolactonc and cured with an aliphatic polyisocyanate. The unsaturated acrylic copolymer was made from the same hydroxy-functional acrylic copolymer modified with isocyanatoethyl methacrylate. IPNs were prepared simultaneously from the two-polymer systems at various ratios. The IPNs were characterized by their mechanical properties and glass transition temperatures. 

There are at least four general types of combinations of crosslinked (x) and linear (1) polymers in a two-component system both components crosslinked (xx), one or the other component crosslinked (lx or xl), and both components linear (11). Where at least one of the components has been polymerized in the presence of the other, the xx forms have often been called interpenetrating polymer networks (IPN), the lx and the xl forms termed "semi-IPNs", and the last, linear or in situ blends. There are also a number of ways in which the components can be formed and assembled into a multicomponent system. Sequential IPNs are prepared by swelling one network polymer with the precursors of the second and polymerizing. Simultaneous IPNs are formed from a mixture of the precursors of both components polymerization to form each component by independent reactions is carried out in the presence of the other precursors or products. Usually, the simultaneous IPNs that have been reported are extremes in the component formation sequence the first component is formed before the second polymerization is begun. Sequential IPNs and simultaneous IPNs of the same composition do not necessarily have the same morphology and properties. 

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