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Influence of the morphology on the fire behavior of a polycarbonate/poly(butylene terephthalate) blend
Author(s) -
Sonnier Rodolphe,
Viretto Amandine,
Taguet Aurélie,
LopezCuesta JoséMarie
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.36480
Subject(s) - materials science , polycarbonate , cone calorimeter , polymer blend , composite material , limiting oxygen index , combustion , morphology (biology) , pyrolysis , polymer , phase inversion , chemical engineering , char , organic chemistry , chemistry , biology , engineering , copolymer , genetics , biochemistry , membrane
Abstract Polycarbonate/Poly(butylene terephthalate) (PC/PBT) blends are used in various industrial sectors, particularly in the cable industry. In this work, the fire behavior of PC/PBT blends was studied for the entire range of blend composition to investigate the relation between fire properties and blend morphology. The morphology of the binary blends used presents a phase inversion point for 25–30 wt % PBT. Various tests have been performed to characterize the fire behavior [limiting oxygen index (LOI), epiradiator test, cone calorimeter, and pyrolysis combustion flow calorimeter (PCFC)]. A change in fire behavior has been observed when the PBT content increases from 20 to 30 wt %, corresponding to the phase inversion, from a continuous rich‐PC phase to a continuous rich‐PBT phase. Consequently, it can be suggested that the control of the morphology of binary polymer blends is crucial to improve their fire properties. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012