One route to melt processing of high glass transition temperature polyelectrolytes, such as disulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) (BPS), involves mixing a plasticizer with the polymer. In this study, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) was used as a plasticizer for BPS. BPS and PEG are miscible, and the effect of PEG molecular weight (in the range of 200–600 g/mol) and concentration on the Tg of BPS/PEG blends was investigated. As PEG molecular weight decreases and concentration increases, the blend Tg is depressed significantly. Based on isothermal holds in a rheometer at various temperatures and times, the PEG materials considered were thermally stable up to 220 °C for 10 min in air or 250 °C for at least 10 min under a nitrogen atmosphere, which is long enough to permit melt extrusion of such materials. This paper was originally published in Polymer 55 (2014) 235–247.
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