Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol.68, No.4, 527-534, 1998
Methyl methacrylate-N-chlorophenyl maleimide copolymers : Effect of structure on properties
The article describes the preparation of cast acrylic sheets by copolymerizing methyl methacrylate(MMA) with varying mole fractions of N-o-chlorophenyl maleimide(OC), N-m-chlorophenyl maleimide (MC), and N-p-chlorophenyl maleimide (PC) using benzoyl peroxide as an initiator. The effect of incorporation of varying mole fraction of N-chlorophenyl maleimides in poly( methyl methacrylate) backbone on the optical, physicomechanical, and thermal properties of cast acrylic sheets were evaluated. Vicat softening temperature, glass transition temperature (T-g) and thermal stability of the copolymers increased with an increase in the maleimide content. The solar transmittance and percentage of transmittance of the copolymer sheets having low mole fractions of N-chlorophenyl maleimides (i.e., 0.025-0.085) were found to be comparable with that of PMMA. Further increase in the comonomer content resulted in a decrease in the percentage of transmittance. Copolymer sheets having low mole fractions of N-chlorophenyl maleimides (0.025-0.108) have tensile strength comparable to that of PMMA, whereas the percentage of elongation decreased. Tensile modulus increased with increasing mole fraction of N-chlorophenyl maleimides.