Investigation of thermal behavior of poly(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate‐<i>co</i>‐itaconic acid) networks

Abstract

Abstract The thermal behavior of poly(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate) [PHEMA] homopolymer and poly(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate‐ co ‐itaconic acid) [P(HEMA/IA)] copolymeric networks synthesized using a radiation‐induced polymerization technique was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The glass‐transition temperature ( T g ) of the PHEMA homopolymer was found to be 87°C. On the other hand, the T g of the P(HEMA/IA) networks increased from 88°C to 117°C with an increasing amount of IA in the network system. The thermal degradation reaction mechanism of the P(HEMA/IA) networks was determined to be different from the PHEMA homopolymer, as confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis. It was observed that the initial thermal degradation temperature of these copolymeric networks increased from 271°C to 300°C with IA content. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 1602–1607, 2007