A new class of poly(ether‐block‐amide)s based on semi‐aromatic polyamide: synthesis, characterization and structure–property relations

• Published in: Polymer international Vol. 70; no. 2; pp. 230 - 241
• Main Authors: Tong, Xin, Peng, Wei‐Ming, Zhang, Mei‐Ling, Wang, Xiao‐Jun, Zhang, Gang, Long, Sheng‐Ru, Yang, Jie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.02.2021; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Aramid fibers; Composition effects; Crystallization; Elasticity; Elastomers; Elongation; high‐temperature performance; Mechanical properties; Melt temperature; poly(ethylene glycol); Polyamide resins; Polyethylene glycol; Segments; semi‐aromatic polyamide; Structural analysis; Tensile strength; Tensile tests; thermal properties; Thermal stability; Thermodynamic properties; thermoplastic elastomer
• ISSN: 0959-8103; 1097-0126
• DOI: 10.1002/pi.6119

A new type of poly(ether‐amide) thermoplastic elastomer (TPAE) was synthesized using poly(decamethylene terephthalamide (10T)/decamethylene isophthalamide) as hard segment and poly(ethylene glycol) as soft segment via an efficient, accessible and low‐pollution melt polymerization method. Thermoplastic elastomer was synthesized based on semi‐aromatic polyamide for the first time. The effects of various compositions of hard segments on the thermal and mechanical properties were investigated. The results show that TPAE synthesized from semi‐aromatic polyamide has excellent thermal stability, the initial decomposition temperature of all samples being between 370 and 378 °C. With an increase of 10T content, crystallization ability of the hard segment increased. As 10T content increased, TPAE changed from amorphous to crystalline, and the melting temperature ranged from 175 to 236 °C. Tensile testing revealed that TPAE had excellent and adjustable mechanical properties, and that tensile strength, elongation at break and elasticity modulus were in the ranges 7–40 MPa, 468–835% and 0.036–1.80 MPa. Furthermore, high‐temperature tensile test results showed that TPAE‐4 still maintained considerable mechanical properties, and had better mechanical properties compared with Pebax® 5533. In particular, TPAE‐4 had higher performance decay point for which elasticity modulus and stress at ε = 500% decreased rapidly when the temperature was higher than 80 °C, this point for Pebax® 5533 appearing at 50 °C. Such outstanding performance indicated that this new class of elastomer has the potential to be used in high‐temperature conditions. © 2020 Society of Industrial Chemistry Thermoplastic elastomer based on semiaromatic polyamide PA10T/10I with excellent high temperature performance has been firstly synthesized via a facile way.