STRUCTURAL-CHEMICAL STUDY OF PHOTOSENSITIVE WATER-SOLUBLE COPOLYAMIDES

The grafting of benzoin to copolyamide is shown to affect the structure of polymer significantly. This effect is shown to be due to the partial destruction of hydrogen bonds, the formation of new bonds involving benzoin, and to the association of benzoin molecules with each other to form separate microdomains. This last process occurs because of the thermodynamic incompatibility of benzoin with copolyamide. The addition of benzoin to the initial reaction mixture changes the flexibility of the copolyamide chains resulting in crystallization from the highly elastic state. Thermophysical studies show that segregation within a microdomain is governed by the accumulation of benzoin in the amorphous regions of copolyamide.