Vinylpyridinium ionomers. III. Influence of the matrix glass transition temperature on the dynamic mechanical properties of random acrylate-based systems
The thermal and dynamic mechanical properties of random butyl acrylate- and plasticized ethyl acrylate-based vinylpyridinium ionomers have been investigated. The properties of the ionomers were found to be dependent on the glass transition temperature of the matrix material. Ionomers having a glass transition temperature lower than ca. 25 °C exhibited all the features associated with the presence of phase-separated microdomains or clusters while the materials with higher glass transition temperatures were not. It was also observed that the dispersion associated with the vinylpyridinium clusters for a butyl acrylate-based ionomer with 12 mol% of ionic units occurs at ca. 25 °C. This value is very close to that observed previously by Otocka and Eirich in their study of a butadiene-based vinylpyridinium ionomer with the same ion content. Keywords: ionomers, plasticization, clustering, glass transition, dynamic mechanical properties.