Synthesis and characterization of hexafluoroisopropylidene bisphenol poly(arylene ether sulfone) and polydimethylsiloxane segmented block copolymers

A series of hexafluoroisopropylidene bisphenol poly(arylene ether sulfone) (BAF PAES) segmented block copolymers with varying fractions of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) were synthesized by a condensation reaction of hydroxyl-terminated BAF PAES and dimethylamino endcapped PDMS. The segmented block copolymers have high thermal stability. The BAF PAES homopolymer exhibits a tensile modulus of 1700 MPa and an elongation at break of 16%. Copolymerizing BAF PAES with increasing molecular weight amounts of PDMS results in tensile properties ranging from plastic to elastomeric where the elongation is 417% for a segmented block copolymer with 64 wt% PDMS incorporated. The morphological properties of these segmented block copolymers were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). AFM and TEM images show the segmented block copolymers were microphase separated, and comparison with bisphenol A (BA) PAES-b-PDMS segmented block copolymers revealed complex differences between the morphological behavior of the two systems. SAXS data of the segmented block copolymers supports AFM and TEM images, indicating microphase separation but little long-range order.