Comparison Between Lightly Crosslinked Ionomeric Materials and Highly Crosslinked Materials Derived from Poly(Acrylic Acid) with Organostannanes as the Crosslinking Agent

Abstract

Ionomers are ion-containing polymers in which the ion-containing segment is present in only a small amount (1). Here the ionomer is a carboxylic ester or acid-containing polymer derived from the copolymerization of the acid-containing monomer and ethylene. Ionomers are usually neutralized by addition of a mono or divalent cation. Here the carboxylic acid is neutralized through reaction with sodium hydroxide with subsequent reaction with organostannane halides(2). While they can be considered to be crosslinked, they are thermoplastics, melting under application of heat and pressure.