JOURNAL OF POLYMER ENGINEERING

 Vol. 23, No. 1, 2003, page 43

STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN SEMICRYSTALLINE POLY(ETHER ESTER) ON UV IRRADIATION

 B. D. Sarwade and R. P. Singh*

 Division of Polymer Chemistry

National Chemical Laboratory

Pune 411 008. India

Tel. & Fax: +91-20-5893234

E-mail: singh@poly.ncl.res.in

 ABSTRACT

       The morphology of the UV exposed films of commercially available poly(ether ester) (Hytrel), a segmented block copolymer, was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The photo-products in the oxidized sample have been identified by FT-IR spectroscopy. The morphological changes occurring due to the UV irradiation of the sample at 60 ^oC in atmospheric air (l > 290 nm) are presented in different micrographs. The phase segregation was observed after 25 h of irradiation, which changes to beads after 50 h. The photo-oxidation first initiated in the amorphous polyether segment and then propagates to the crystalline hard domain. The morphological study shows very good correlation with the changes induced by photo-oxidation results in Hytrel.

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