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Thermal and mechanical properties of electron beam irradiated poly(vinyl chloride)/polystyrene blends
Author(s) -
Senna Magdy M.H.,
Hussein Yousry A.,
AbdelMoneam Yasser K.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
polymer composites
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.577
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1548-0569
pISSN - 0272-8397
DOI - 10.1002/pc.20469
Subject(s) - materials science , polystyrene , ultimate tensile strength , composite material , thermogravimetric analysis , vinyl chloride , elongation , thermal stability , natural rubber , polymer , thermal decomposition , polymer blend , irradiation , polymer chemistry , chemical engineering , copolymer , organic chemistry , chemistry , physics , nuclear physics , engineering
Abstract The effect of electron beam irradiation on the thermal and mechanical properties of poly(vinyl chloride)/polystyrene (PVC/PS) blends and PVC/PS blends containing epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) was studied. The thermogravimetric analysis study showed that the thermal decomposition of the plasticized PVC individual polymer goes through two stages, whereas PS decomposes through one stage. However, the temperature of the maximum rate of reaction ( T max ) of PS is much higher than that for PVC and their blends. Meanwhile, the T max was found to increase with increasing PS ratios in the blend. The thermal stability of PVC/PS blends was greatly increased after electron beam irradiation in comparison with unirradiated blends. Moreover, the addition of ENR to PVC/PS increased the thermal stability. On the other hand, the mechanical properties in terms of tensile strength and elongation at break of PVC/PS blends are lower than pure PVC polymer because of the immiscibility. However, the addition of ENR to the PVC/PS (80/20) blend increased the elongation at break from 114 to 321% associated with a small effect on the tensile properties. These behaviors were supported by structure morphology studies observations, which indicate an improvement in the interfacial adhesion between the phases. POLYM. COMPOS., 2008. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers