Cocrystallization phenomena in novel poly(diethylene terephthalate-co-thiodiethylene terephthalate) copolyesters

Poly(diethylene terephthalate-co-thiodiethylene terephthalate) (PDET/TDET) copolymers of various compositions were synthesized and characterized in terms of chemical structure and molecular weight. The thermal behavior was examined by thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. All the polymers showed a good thermal stability. At room temperature they appeared as semicrystalline materials: the main effect of copolymerization was a lowering in the amount of crystallinity and a decrease of melting temperature with respect to homopolymers. WAXD measurements indicated that cocrystallization occurs over an extended composition range and three different crystalline phases have been identified. In particular, the applicability of Wendling-Suter's equation has been checked for the PDET/TDET copolymers with TDET unit content ranging from 60 to 90 mol %. Amorphous samples were obtained after melt quenching and a decrease of T-g as the content of TDET units is increased was observed. This behavior was explained as due to the presence of flexible C-S-C bonds in the polymeric chain. Lastly, the Fox equation well described T-g-composition data.