Physical, mechanical, and thermal properties of PVC/PMMA blends in relation to their morphologies

The effect of blending poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) in various proportions with suitably stabilized and plasticized poly (vinyl chloride) (PVC) was studied with reference to their physical, mechanical, and thermal properties. The resulting morphologies of the various blends were also studied to find a suitable explanation of these properties. The physical and mechanical properties of such polyblends revealed a substantial increase in toughness accompanied with unusual increase in modulus and ultimate tensile strength after an initial drop at the initial stages of PMMA incorporation compared to pure reference compound PVC. The toughening effect, however, undergoes a reduction with increasing proportion of PMMA but it never goes below that of pure PVC (reference compound) within the ranges of PMMA incorporation under study. The various polyblends exhibit the two-stage degradation typical of PVC and all of them possess higher thermal stability as manifested in their characteristic thermograms. The softening characteristics imparted by PMMA were also reflected in their respective TMA curves. (C) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.