INFLUENCE OF REPROCESSING ON THE MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES OF A COMMERCIAL POLYSULFONE POLYCARBONATE BLEND

Commercial polysulfone/polycarbonate (PSU/PC) polymer blends were reprocessed up to five times to determine the influence that reprocessing has on their structure and physical properties. All the high strain properties, mainly ductility, significantly decreased under harsh processing conditions, such as five cycles at 320-degrees-C. The results of reprocessing the blends at 320-degrees-C have been compared with results at a lower temperature and also with those of the separate components with the aim of clarifying the origin of the degradation. These results plus Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), dynamic mechanical analysis, and melt flow index measurements (MFI) indicate that the presence of the two polymers together clearly decreases the resistance to degradation of each component. Moreover, degradation under the stated conditions is mainly thermal and does not change the chemical nature of the blends. However, a clear decrease in molecular weight was observed both by viscosimetry and MFI measurements as was a shift to higher temperatures of the low temperature secondary transition of both PC and PSU. Both molecular weight and secondary transition changes usually deteriorate mechanical properties but not in the degree observed here. This probably means that the fine and difficult-to-observe structure of the blend has also changed.