Rheo-Optical Studies of the Thermotropic Aromatic Copolyesters of Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) and p-Acetoxybenzoic Acid

Abstract

Many studies have been conducted for the development of polymers with ultra-high modulus and strength. Although most of the work has been on the preparation of highly oriented and extended morphologies using conventional polymers such as high density polyethylene, recently the work has been extended into the processing of rigid polymers—that is polymers with rigid backbone chains.^{1 – 4} Such polymers can be processed in solution, however, under conditions which are far from being attractive. In trying to make a more readily processable rigid polymer, that is, a polymer which will not decompose before melting or dissolve only in highly corrosive solvents, Economy and co-workers^5,6 and Jackson and Kuhfuss⁷ synthesized a compositional series of aromatic copolyesters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid and biphenyl terephthalate and p-acetoxybenzoic acid and poly(ethylene terephthalate).