Molecular relaxation mechanisms of tyrosine-derived polycarbonates by thermally stimulated depolarization currents

Abstract

A series of tyrosine-derived polycarbonates with different lengths (2 ≤ n ≤ 8) for the alkyl ester pendent chain were studied by measuring thermally stimulated depolarization currents (TSDC). The observed spectra could be separated into three regions: the low-temperature zone with a broad, complex β band (80–240 K), the intermediate zone (250–300 K), and the high-temperature zone (300–400 K) with a sharp α peak. The application of direct signal analysis (DSA) to decompose the complex peaks into elementary processes led to the determination of the relaxation time distribution and temperature dependence of each process. The variation of the relaxation parameters as a function of the pendent chain length facilitated the tentative identification of the relaxation mechanisms responsible for the observed current peaks. It is proposed that as the temperature increases one observes, first, the individual motion of each polar group, then the concerted motion of the entire pendent chain, and, last, the movement of the polymer backbone. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 63: 1457–1466, 1997