Synthesis of poly{[(2-oxo-1,3-dioxolan-4-yl)-methyl vinyl ether]-co-acrylonitrile} and its miscibility with SAN

In this work, a novel copolymer of (2-oxo-1,3-dioxolan-4-yl)methyl vinyl ether (OVE) and acrylonitrile (AN) [poly(OVE-co-AN)] was synthesized from the reaction of CO2 with oxirane. The copolymer was also blended with polystyrene-co-acrylonitrile) (SAN) in order to develop an integrated process for the catalytic conversion of COZ to useful polymer materials. It was found from the optical clarity, thermal analysis and light-scattering studies that the poly(OVE-co-AN)/SAN blends were miscible over the entire range of blend compositions. Thermally induced phase separation behaviour of the miscible blends was also investigated using an atomic force microscopy (AFM). (C) 2002 Society of Chemical Industry.