Effect of comonomer on the viscoelastic behavior of co-poly (acrylonitrile) solutions

Three copolymers of acrylonitrile-methacrylic acid [P(AN-co-MAA)], acrylonitrile-ammonium salt of methacrylic acid [P(AN-co-AMA)], acrylonitrile-methacrylamide-itaconic acid [P(AN-MAM-IA)] and PAN homopolymer were synthesized by aqueous dispersion polymerization technique. The polymerization conditions were adjusted in such a way to produce polymers with similar composition and molecular weight. The influence of comonomer nature on the viscoelastic behavior and spinnability of copolymer/dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) solutions were investigated. It was found that incorporation of these comonomers into PAN chains led to intense decrease in zero-shear viscosity to lower value as well as appearance of distinct plateau in comparison with PAN homopolymer. However, comparing the results of complex viscosity and shear viscosity of each PAN polymer showed different shear-thinning behavior, typical deviation from Cox-Merz rule at high deformation rates. Amongst these copolymer solutions, P(AN-co-AMA) exhibited the longest relaxation time (λ) at low and medium frequencies. The lower values of frequency dependence of G′ (n′) and cross over frequency (ω_c) of storage modulus (G′) and loss modulus (G″) indicated that P(AN-co-AMA) was more elastic than other PAN copolymer solutions. The log-log plots of tan δ versus ω demonstrated that the comonomer nature affects the sol-gel transition behavior and elastic character of copolymer solutions. On average, based upon the slope of logGʹ versus logGʺ data, the incorporation of comonomers inside PAN chains led to ~50 % increase in the homogeneity of solutions compared to PAN homopolymer.