Phase-Separated Conetwork Structure Induced by Radical Copolymerization of Poly(dimethylsiloxane)-α,ω-diacrylate and N,N-Dimethylacrylamide

Phase-separated conetwork structure was induced by a radical copolymerization of telechelic polymer, (polydimethylsiloxane-α,ω-diacrylate (PDMS-DA)), and N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMAA). The structure development was investigated by in situ SAXS measurement. A mixture of PDMS-DA and DMAA was transparent and homogeneous and gave no peak in SAXS profile. The radical copolymerization of both initiated at 303−363 K was successfully done to form fully transparent objects. Peak was observed in SAXS from the resulting polymer, which can be interpreted in terms of Teubner−Stray model, involving a polymer morphology with given a periodicity. The analysis of time evolution of the SAXS profiles (in site measurement) revealed that the phase separation occurred via the spinodal decomposition mechanism. The morphology was fixed by solidification of the sample due to cross-linking and glass transition during reaction-induced phase separation. The final structure was interpreted fairly using Teubner−Stray model. Thus, the ...