Morphology and thermomechanical properties of main-chain polybenzoxazine-block-polydimethylsiloxane multiblock copolymers

The main-chain polybenzoxazine-block-polydimethylsiloxane multiblock copolymers were synthesized via the Mannich polycondensation among 4,4′-dihydroxyldiphenylisopropane, 4,4′-diaminodiphenylmethane, aminopropyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane and paraformaldehyde. The multiblock copolymers were characterized by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and size exclusion chromatography (SEC). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) showed that the multiblock copolymers displayed microphase-separated morphology. Owing to the presence of the main-chain polybenzoxazine blocks, the multiblock copolymers are thermally-crosslinkable. The curing behavior of the multiblock copolymers was investigated according to the analysis of non-isothermal curing kinetics. The measurement of static contact angles showed that with the inclusion of polydimethylsiloxane blocks, the polybenzoxazine thermosets resulting from the multiblock copolymers displayed the improved surface hydrophobicity.