Structure Properties correlation in copolymers of Methyl Methacrylate and Alkyl Methacrylates

  • Seema Agarwal Defence Research & Development Establishment, Gwalior
  • Veena Choudhary Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi.
  • I.K. Varma Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14429/dsj.47.4025
Keywords: Copolymers, Tensile strength, Differential scanning calorimetry, Tensile strengthCopolymerisation

Abstract

The result of a study on the copolymerisation of methacrylate (MMA) with varying mol fractions of octyl methacrylate, decyl methacrylate (DMA), lauryl methacrylate (LMA) and stearyl methacrylate (SMA) by free radical polymerisation using benzoyl peroxide as the initiator are presented. It was anticipated that incorporation of alkyl methacrylate (AMA) having a long alkyl side chain in poly(methyl methadrylate) (PMMA) backbone may lead to an improvement in the toughness of the cast sheets. Such copolymers can be used for low temperature applications in defence. The glass transition temperature of the polymers determined using differential scanning calorimetry was found to decrease with increase in length of the alkyl side chain and the comonomer content. A significant increase in percentage elongation and decrease in tensile strength, modulus and per cent transmittance was observed on incorporation of AMA in PMMA backbone. In the copolymers of SMA and MMA, significant opacity was observed.

Author Biographies

Seema Agarwal, Defence Research & Development Establishment, Gwalior
Defence Research & Development Establishment. Gwalior.
Veena Choudhary, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi.
MB Veena Choudhary obtained her PhD from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, in 1977, and is working there as Professor. She worked as Research Professor at Polytechnic University, New York, during 1992- 1993. She was Indp-US Science and Technology Fellow (1992- 1993) and Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, west Germany ( 1985 -1986). She has  published 96 papers in various international Journals.
I.K. Varma, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi
Ms IK Varma obtained her PhD from Glasgow University, Scotland, U.K., in 1965. She is working at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, as Joint Professo!:in the Department bf Chemistry and Centre for Polymer Science and Engineering. The areas of her interest include ,hermally stable polymers, alkyl methacrylates, urethane acrylate resins, vinyl ester resins, electrically conducting , polymers, modifications of polymers, structure-property relatiohship in polymers, mechanistic studies on thermal degradation of vinyl polymers and polymer compJsites (both particulate and fibre reinforced). She has more than 250 scientific publications and four US patents to her credit. She ,was awarded National Research Council, Senior Resident Research Associateship (1979-81) at NASA-Ames Research Centre, Moffett field, California, USA. She received sevbral cash awards and certificates of recognition from NASA for her pioneering work in the area of name retardant polyimides. She received DSc in thermal behavlour of polymeric materials from Glasgow  Univer.sity in 1986 and DuPont Internationa/ Award for polymer characterisation by thermal analysis. She is a fellow of National  Academy of Sciences, India; Regional Editor, Journal Thermal Analysis (Wiley, UK) and Akademial Kiado (Hungary). She is currently the President of the Polymer Society of India.
Published
2013-01-01
How to Cite
Agarwal, S., Choudhary, V., & Varma, I. (2013). Structure Properties correlation in copolymers of Methyl Methacrylate and Alkyl Methacrylates. Defence Science Journal, 47(3), 401-409. https://doi.org/10.14429/dsj.47.4025
Issue
Vol 47 No 3
Section
Materials Science & Metallurgy
Copyright (c) 2016 Defence Science Journal

 Where otherwise noted, the Articles on this site are licensed under Creative Commons License: CC Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India

 

Most read articles by the same author(s)