Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol.74, No.7, 1827-1835, 1999
Properties of ternary in situ polycarbonate/polybutylene terephthalate/liquid crystalline polymer composites
Ternary in situ polycarbonate (PC)/polybutylene terephthalate (PET)/liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) composites were prepared by injection molding. The liquid crystalline polymer used was a versatile Vectra A950. The matrix of composite was composed of PC/PBT 60/40 by weight. A solid epoxy resin (bisphenol type-A) was used as a compatibilizer for the composites. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) showed that epoxy resin was effective to improve the compatibility between PC and PET, and between PC/PET and LCP, respectively. Tensile tests revealed that the stiffness of composites shows little change with the LCP content up to 10 wt %. Above this concentration, the stiffness tended to increase with increasing LCP content. Furthermore, the tensile strengths appeared to increase with increasing LCP content, and their values were close to those predicted from the rule of mixtures. Scanning electron microscopic examination showed that LCP ribbons and short fibrils were developed in the composites containing LCP content less than or equal to 10 wt %. However, fine and elongated fibrils were formed in the skin and core sections of the composites when the LCP content reached 25 wt % and above. Thermogravimetric analysis indicated that the thermooxidative stability of the PC/PET 60/40 blend tended to improve with increasing LCP content.
Keywords:POLY(BUTYLENE TEREPHTHALATE);REACTIVE COMPATIBILIZATION;POLYBUTYLENE TEREPHTHALATE;MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES;BLENDS;MORPHOLOGY;MISCIBILITY;POLYESTER;POLY(ETHYLENE-TEREPHTHALATE);FLOW