Synthesis and characterization of suspension terpolymer of N-cyclohexylmaleimide, methyl methacrylate, and styrene

N-cyclohexylmaleimide (ChMI) and styrene (St) were polymerized with methyl methacrylate (MMA) at different St feed content by suspension polymerization method. The glass transition temperatures (T-g) of the terpolymers were detected by torsional braid analysis (TBA). Two transition peaks in TBA curves of the terpolymers with a high St content illustrated that these terpolymers have a heterogeneous chain structure and the phase separation occurred. The lower transition temperature, T-g1, was assigned to the random St-MMA components, and the higher transition temperature, T-g2, was assigned to the St-ChMI unitsrich segments. Thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) revealed that all the terpolyrners showed a two-step degradation process. The tensile strength of the terpolymers decrease with increasing St content while the impact strength tended to increase slightly. The rheological behavior of the terpolymers was also detected. The result illustrated that the terpolymers showed rheological behavior similar to that of pseucloplastic liquid. The apparent shear viscosity decreased with the increasing of St content. All terpolymers have a higher value of flow n than the poly(MMA-co-ChMI). (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.