Deformation and morphology development of poly(ethylene terephthalate)/polyethylene and polycarbonate/polyethylene blends with high interfacial contact during elongation

Abstract

AbstractImmiscible blends of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)/polyethylene (PE) and polycarbonate (PC)/PE were examined to study the influence of the high interfacial contact (pseudo‐adhesion) on the mechanical properties and the morphology developed during elongation. The high interfacial contact resulted from the contraction difference of the two polymers during cooling from the processing temperature to room temperature. As a result of the pseudo‐adhesion, the tensile strength and modulus of the PET/PE and PC/PE blends increased steadily with the increase of PET and PC concentration. In PC/PE blends, numerous PC microfibers were formed in‐situ, while in PET/PE blends, slippage took place between the PET particles and the matrix. Moreover, the macroscopic morphology development of both blends upon elongation was quite different. For PET/PE blend, necking was initiated at one point close to the non‐gate end of the specimen, and then propagated uniformly from this point. For the PC/PE blend, necking‐initating sites and propagation were irregular, and consequently the whole tested zone was deformed. The recoil of partially elongated specimens indicated that the recoverability of the PC/PE blend is higher than that of the PET/PE blend. Polym. Eng. Sci. 44:1561–1570, 2004. © 2004 Society of Plastics Engineers.