Effects of Reactive Extrusion and Interchange Catalyst on the Thermal Properties of Polycarbonate/Poly (Ethylene Terephthalate) System

Abstract

This study was performed in order to evaluate the effects of transesterification reactions on the thermal properties of the PC/PET system, as a function of homopolymer and exchange catalyst concentrations. DSC results support well that when transesterification occurs, the glass transition temperature of the PC-rich phase decreases with the increase of the catalyst's concentration. The evaluation of the PC-rich phase composition using Wood's equation showed its strong dependence on the catalyst concentration and on the initial amount of homopolymers in the system. Furthermore, it was found that the thermal stability of the studied blends falls in between those of the two homopolymers and shows an evident improvement relatively to that of the neat PET.

Keywords:

• PC/PET blend
• thermal stability
• transesterification

The authors would like to thank Mr Olivier Gain of Institut des Sciences et des Techniques de l'Ingénieur (ISTIL) of Lyon (France) for performing the thermogravimetric analysis.