Correlating miscibility of PVC/PMMA blend with polymer chain orientation

Blends of poly (vinyl chloride) (PVC) and poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) with varying concentrations of the polymers were prepared in a film form by standard solution casting method, using methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) as a common solvent. The miscibility of the blend was studied by dynamic mechanical analysis. The chain orientation behaviors of PVC and PMMA in the stretched blend films were studied by infrared dichroism method. Up to 60 wt % PVC concentration in the blend, PVC showed negative values for orientation function whereas PMMA showed independent positive values for its orientation function. On further increasing PVC concentration in the blend, the orientation function of PVC flipped to positive values, and both PVC and PMMA showed same magnitude and trend in orientation behavior. The chain orientation behavior of individual polymers in the immiscible compositions of the blend was observed to be independent, while there was a high degree of cooperation for chain orientation in the miscible composition. Change in the miscibility of the blend was simultaneously accompanied by conformational changes in PVC. The change in orientation behavior is interpreted in terms of curling of polymer chains in the immiscible phase. The polymer chain curling hypothesis used here is applicable independent of the type of polymers in the blend. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.