REINFORCEMENT OF MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES OF A POLY(ETHYLENE-TEREPHTHALATE) AND POLYCARBONATE BLEND BY THE ADDITION OF THERMOTROPIC LIQUID-CRYSTALLINE POLYMER

Abstract

Mechanical properties of the ternary blends of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), polycarbonate (PC), and thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer (TLCP, Vectra A950) were investigated. The ternary blends were prepared by varying the amount of TLCP but fixing the ratio of PET and PC. The fiber fallen freely through the capillary die had the highest initial modulus (1.46 GPa)/tensile strength (73 MPa) when 10% of TLCP was added. Above this TLCP content, however, initial modulus and tensile strength decreased. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrographs of the TLCP phase which was extracted by dissolving PET/PC matrix from the blend showed the fine fibrils formed at 5 and 10% of TLCP, while the aggregated TLCP phases at 20 and 30% of TLCP. It was suggested that the decrease of the mechanical properties of the resulting blend was caused by the aggregation of TLCP phase above 10% of TLCP. A high draw ratio gave a rise to the formation of highly oriented fibrils of TLCP phase in the PET/PC matrix and the improvement of mechanical properties of the ternary blend.