Fabrication of nanostructured polycarbonate/poly(methyl methacrylate) blends with improved optical and mechanical properties by high‐shear processing |
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| Authors: | Yongjin Li Hiroshi Shimizu |
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| Affiliation: | Nanotechnology Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba Central 5, 1‐1‐1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305‐8565, Japan |
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| Abstract: | The structure and properties of polycarbonate (PC)/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) blends fabricated using a high‐shear extruder at different shear rates were investigated. It was found that the morphologies of the blends were greatly dependent on the shear rate exerted during melt processing. High‐shear processing leads to a nanostructured PC/PMMA blend, in which PMMA domains with a size of less than 50 nm are homogeneously dispersed in the PC matrix. The prepared nanostructured blends exhibit not only excellent optical properties with a transmittance of more than 90% in the visible region but also a higher modulus than pure PC. In contrast, the PMMA domain size ranges from submicron to micrometer for the same blends processed at a low‐shear rate. These blends are opaque and display much lower elongation at break compared with the blends processed at a high‐shear rate. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2011. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers |
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