BLENDS OF BISPHENOL A POLYCARBONATE AND ACRYLIC POLYMERS .1. A CHEMICAL-REACTION MECHANISM

The chemical reaction at high temperature (above 200 degrees C) between PC and PMMA has been very recently highlighted. However, no clear reaction mechanism has been proposed to explain this phenomenon. We suggest a reaction mechanism following two steps. The first step consists of hydrolysis of the ester bonds of the PMMA leading to acid pendant groups. These acids can then either ring close into glutaric anhydride, or acidolyze the carbonate bonds of PC during the second step. At the same time, benzoic acid produced by PC degradation could further react with PMMA or acidolyze the carbonate groups leading to the crosslinking of the system. A satisfactory contact between the reacting units is a key point in the process. Significant amounts of PC-PMMA copolymer are obtained when the reaction is performed from a miscible system. On the contrary, no reaction occurs during melt mixing. Understanding the process enables us to specify the conditions, in which no chemical reaction takes place. In nonreactive conditions, PC/PMMA blends remain immiscible for several hours at 300 degrees C. The thermodynamic UCST proposed in the literature is just an artifact due to the occurrence of the chemical reaction. (C) 1995 John Wiley and Sons, Inc.