Thermal and photochemical degradation of PPO/HIPS blends

In general, polymer blends show a degradation behavior different from a simple combination of the individual components, making any forecast difficult without experiments. Interactions between polymers can sensibilize or stabilize the blend against degradation. In this work, the thermal and photooxidative degradation of blends of poly(2,6‐dimethyl‐1,4‐phenylene oxide) (PPO) and high impact polystyrene (HIPS) have been studied under accelerated conditions. The extent of degradation was accompanied by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy (FT‐Raman) and impact resistance and strain–stress testing followed its influence on the macroscopic properties of the blends. The results showed that HIPS and the blend containing 60 wt % of PPO are more susceptible to thermal and photochemical degradation, while the blends containing 40 and 50 wt % of PPO are more stable. Infrared and Raman spectroscopic analyses showed that the degradation of HIPS and its blends is caused not only by degradation of the polybutadiene phase. Effects of interactions, such as exchange of energy in excited state between the PPO and PS components of the polymeric matrix may also be responsible for the degradation and loss of mechanical properties of the PPO/HIPS blends. The chemical degradation directly affects the mechanical properties of the samples with photodegradation being more harmful than the thermal degradation at 75°C. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2007