Analysis of the phase transition of polymer blends using quartz crystal analyser

In this communication we show that an AT-cut quartz crystal analyser (QCA) can be applied to the investigation of the phase transition of polymer blend thin films. The phase transition phenomena of blend films of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) have been elucidated by simultaneous measurement of the resonant frequency and resonant admittance of the QCA. The PMMA/PVAc blend cast from ethyl acetate exhibited critical changes of resonant frequency and resonant admittance at the glass transition point. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.