Preview
Faculty Mentor
Greg Phelan
Creation Date
4-2024
Description
A series of interpenetrating (IPN) and pseudointerpenetrating polymers (PIPN) were synthesized. Poly (p - phenylene oxide) was used as the foundational material and other monomers were added to create the IPN and PIPN. These materials are of interest as they are currently used in many products including consumer electronics and automotive parts. The physical properties of these materials can be designed / controlled by selectively adding a second monomer to the PPO to form an IPN or PIPN creating a hybrid that retains many of the desirable properties of pure PPO. The networks were synthesized by mixing polymers with monomers and by starting from monomers and then polymerizing in situ. The compositions of the networks were based on weight percent of each polymer used in the mixture. The resulting materials were characterized using DSC.
Keywords
Polymers, interpenetrating polymer networks