Thermoplastic elastomers: structural and morphological aspects of ether-esteramide copolymers

Polyesteramide 6NT6 (I)-polytetramethylene ether glycol (II) copolymers, pptd. from dil. soln. were studied by small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) and wide-angle x-ray scattering (WAXS) with variation of the II content. A comparison of the structural characteristics of these materials was made with those of I, which consists of -CO-p-C6H4CONH(CH2)6NHCO-p-C6H4CO2(CH2)6O- units. Chain folding is assumed as the crystn. mechanism for the low-II content copolymers, with possible inclusion of polyether segments within the I crystal lattice. WAXS data support the view of a weakening of the I cryst. packing in the equatorial planes as the reason for broadening of the diffraction peaks, for changes in their relative intensities, and for the increase in the equatorial interplanar distances in the high-II content samples. The annealing behavior was investigated.