β-Phase of poly(vinylidene fluoride) formation in poly(vinylidene fluoride)/poly(methyl methacrylate) blend from solutions

The effect of single and mixed solvent on the crystallization behavior of the PVDF/PMMA blend from solutions was investigated. The films cast from the good solvent N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) dominantly yielded the beta-phase crystal with the highest crystallinity of PVDF. Those deposited from the methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and tetrahydrofuran (THF) exhibited a mixture of alpha- and some extra beta-phase crystals and presented the low crystallinity of PVDF. The crystallization behavior and morphology of the films cast from the mixed solvent (THF/DMF) revealed an enormous dependence on the DMF content. The increased DMF content in the mixed solvent enhanced the interactions between polymers and solvents, and favored the beta-crystal of PVDF formation but hindered the alpha-phase of PVDF formation. Thus, the total crystallinity of PVDF in the blend film was decreased with the DMF content increasing, because of the decreased alpha-phase of PVDF. In addition, the morphological feature revealed that the voids between the PVDF spherulites were eliminated remarkably by blending with PMMA. The average size of the connected spherulite on top surface of the film can grow into larger as DMF content increased. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.