| Abstract: | The chemical reactions occurring in the thermal treatment of bisphenol-A polycarbonate (PC) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) blends have been investigated by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), mass spectrometry (MS), size exclusion chromatography (SEC), and thermogravimetry (TG). Our results suggest that in the melt-mixing of PC/PMMA blends, at 230°C, no exchange reactions occur and that only the depolymerization reaction of PMMA has been observed. In the presence of an ester-exchange catalyst (SnOBu2), an exchange reaction was found to occur at 230°C, but no trace of PC/PMMA graft copolymer has been observed. Instead, an exchange reaction between the monomer methyl methacrylate (MMA), generated in the unzipping of PMMA chains, and the carbonate groups of PC has been suggested. This is due to the diffusion of MMA at the interface or even into the PC domains, where it can react with PC producing low molar mass PC oligomers bearing methacrylate and methyl carbonate chain ends and leaving the undecomposed PMMA chains unaffected. The TG curves of PC/PMMA blends prepared by mechanical mixing and by casting from THF show two separated degradation steps corresponding to that of homopolymers. This behavior is different from that of a transparent film of PC/PMMA blend, obtained by solvent casting from DCB/CHCl3, which shows a single degradation step indicating that the degradation rate of PC is increased by the presence of PMMA in the blend. The thermal degradation products obtained by DPMS of this blend consist of methyl methacrylate (MMA), cyclic carbonates arising from the degradation of PMMA and PC, respectively, and a series of open chain bisphenol-A carbonate oligomers with methacrylate and methyl carbonate terminal groups. The presence of the latter compounds suggests a thermally activated exchange reaction occurring above 300°C between MMA and PC. The presence of bisphenol-A carbonate oligomers bearing methyl ether end groups, generated by a thermally activated decarboxylation of the methyl carbonate end groups of PC, has also been observed among the pyrolysis products. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 36: 1873–1884, 1998 |
