The Physical Property Advantages Gained When Alloying/Blending of Polycarbonate with Polymethyl Methacrylate

摘要

Blends of Polymethyl Methacrylate and Polycarbonate (20/80 & 50/50) were made. This was accomplished using a Dual TekFlow Processor which has already demonstrated its ability not only to blend and intimately alloy polymers, but also offers the advantage to reduce the viscosity of the new blend by disentanglement. The result is usually a new blend, with properties closer to a theoretical mix, i.e. with a more predictable performance level than what has been possible by more conventional methods of blend preparation. Rheological and thermal testing shows that the blends have very little degradation and about 40% disentanglement, meaning an improved fluidity by 40% when compared to the compounded contribution of the individual components. The 20/80 PC/PMMA blends look white, extremely well dispersed, and could be mistaken, at first glance, with Polypropylene. Injection molded specimens were made for the blends and both virgin resins, which allowed for investigation of their comparative tensile, flexural, impact and thermal properties. Mechanical test results indicate that the properties of the 20/80 PC/PMMA blend are slightly better than the Virgin PMMA, whereas the 50/50 PC/PMMA blend has intermediary properties compared to both resins.