Abstract
Two nucleophilic routes to poly (phenylene ether ketone) have been investigated and one of these was found to be more likely to lead to a structural aberration. [chemical equation] This non-ideal structure was found to be associated with an excess of the phenolate group during preparation and to give rise to red coloured sulphuric acid solutions of the polymer. The nature of this chromophore and the mechanism leading to its formation were both investigated but neither was fully elucidated. The effect of reduced viscosity and gel on the toughness of poly (phenylene ether ketone) has been quantified for polymers containing up to 3% gel. The relationship between intrinsic viscosity ([eta]) and number average molecular weight (M[n]) for poly (phenylene ether ketone) has been found to be [equation]. The method used was to control molecular weight by adding an excess of functional groups to the polymerisation. The degree of polymerisation (and hence the number average molecular weight) is then calculable and can be related to the intrinsic viscosity. The thermodynamic quantities characterising the fusion of poly (phenylene ether ketone) have been determined using the method of Flory. Several copoly (phenylene ether ketone/sulphones) have been prepared by a nucleophilic route and have been shown to be random. The variation in several of the properties of these copolymers (e.g. density, crystal melting point and glass transition temperature etc) with changing composition has been studied.