C - H to O hydrogen bonding: The attractive interaction in the blend between polystyrene and poly(vinyl methyl ether)

The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data for the polystyrene (PS)/ poly-(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) in the solid state that confirms specific interaction between the aromatic hydrogen of PS and the methoxyl group of the blended PVME is presented. Solid-state NMR exchange experiment was carried out for a PS/PVME blend prepared from toluene by solution casting, which is the standard three-pulse exchange sequence of the bulk solid-state blend undergoing magic-angle spinning (MAS). The control experiments indicate that at least 15 kHz of MAS is required to transform the homogeneous proton line width for the solid blend to the resolved spectra. The hybridization dependence is in line with the observations on deuteration of the polystyrene where only deuterium substitution of the aromatic hydrogen affects the blend properties. The results obtained stimulate the search for other blends dependent on weak per unit interaction or modification of polymers.