Understanding the Miscibility and Morphology of Poly(methyl methacrylate) and Styrenic Copolymer Blends of Tunable Domain Sizes

Autor: Bander Al-Farhood, Arun Sikder, Sharankumar Shetty, Pradeep Singh, Radha Kamalakaran, Yogesha Subbaiah, Akhilesh Tanwar, Sharmila Muthukrishnan
Rok vydání: 2018
Předmět:
Zdroj: Polymer Science, Series A. 60:350-358
ISSN: 1555-6107
0965-545X
DOI: 10.1134/s0965545x18030136
Popis: In the present study, we have investigated the miscibility, morphology and mechanical behavior of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) blends with a series of poly(styrene-co-maleic anhydride) (SMA) copolymers containing varying amounts of maleic anhydride (MA) content (from 8 to 26%). The experimental findings have been substantiated by the modeling studies to gain fundamental understanding of the observed phenomena with respect to the miscibility of the PMMA and SMA blends of a given MA content. The morphological differences, molecular weights, domain sizes and mechanical behavior of the blends at a given ratio of PMMA and copolymers have been investigated and a correlation has been made between the morphological understanding to the molecular weights and mechanical properties. The results indicate that the PMMA/SMA blends are miscible only at a certain MA content providing transparent PMMA/SMA blends without affecting any of the enabling properties of PMMA that are of commercial interest through a facile melt mixing process. The surface hardness and % recovery (nano-indentation) of these blends were evaluated as well to gain fundamental understanding of the surface characteristics and mechanicals of the blends.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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