Dynamic viscoelasticity and molecular orientation in uniaxially drawn PC/PET blends

The dependence of dynamic viscoelasticity on molecular orientation of the hot-drawn polycarbonate (PC)/poly(ethylene terephthalate) blends was studied experimentally. The oriented states of samples were investigated by wide-angle X-ray diffraction and quantified by Hermans' factor. The viscoelasticity was probed by dynamic mechanical analysis. For the fitting curves of dynamic modulus versus orientation, the PC-rich blends with different compositions had an opposite concavity and convexity compared with the neat PC. The difference revealed the influence of molecular mobility on orientation and viscoelasticity. The assumption on the phase morphological change from sea-island to local sandwich-like structure in blends was proposed and used to interpret the variation of slope of fitting curves. The relationship between orientation and viscoelasticity was observed in PC-rich blends, which can help understand the mechanism of molecular orientation and develop the constitutive relations for simulation. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47514.