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Imaging Ionic Aggregates in Zn-Neutralized Sulfonated Polystyrene Ionomers: Shape and Spatial Heterogeneity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

Brian P. Kirkmeyer
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania19104- 6272
Robert A. Weiss
Affiliation:
Polymer Science Program and Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut06269-3136
Karen I. Winey
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania19104- 6272
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Extract

Ionomers are ionically-associating copolymers whose distinctive rheological and mechanical properties arise from the formation of ionic aggregates. The ionic aggregates form when dipoles of minority anionic polymer backbone segments and cationic neutralizing species locally associate and dissociate among each other. Specific ionomer properties depend upon the base copolymer, the minority constituent and the neutralizing agent. One system that has been studied extensively is sulfonated polystyrene ionomer neutralized with Zn (Zn-SPS). The most common technique to date for studying ionomer morphology is small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS). This technique has provided quantitative information about the aggregate morphology by imposing morphology models that have not been independently confirmed.

In the present study, we demonstrate the capability to directly image the ionic aggregates of Zn-SPS ionomers using scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). This method will allow us to confirm or deny the competing morphological models applied to SAXS data. We have applied similar methods to polyethylene-based ionomers.

Type
Advances in Polymer Characterization
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America

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References

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