2009 Volume 58 Issue 9 Pages 741-746
In this study, the optical and mechanical properties of cyclo-olefin polymers (COPs) which were added several kinds of polysilane or silicone were investigated. When adding low molecular weight polysilane (PMPS) into COPs upto 20wt%, the transparency of the COP blends was maintained and, at the same time, their refractive index values increased with an increase of PMPS content. On the other hand, when adding polysilane with high molecular weigh or silicone into COPs, those films became cloudy even with 10wt% of the additives, indicating that they cannot be dispersed homogeneously. Besides the glass-transition temperature (Tg) of COPs can be controlled by adding PMPS, and its decline ratio of Tg was almost proportional to the PMPS content. This result indicated that PMPS can play the role of plasticizer for COP materials. For the molecular motion in the glassy state of COPs, however, the activation energy of their enthalpy relaxation increased by adding PMPS, indicating that PMPS hinders enthalpy relaxation.
