Comparison of Electron and Infrared Spectroscopy with Thermal Analysis to Study Molecular Weight Effects in PVC-PMMA Blends

Abstract
The effects of homopolymer molecular weight on the miscibility of PVC/PMMA solvent cast blends were studied. Two significantly different molecular weights were chosen for each of the homopolymers, and a series of blends was prepared from the four possible homopolymer-homopolymer combinations. Angle-dependent ESCA results suggest that the surfaces of the blends are enriched with PMMA. The extent of this enrichment is dependent on molecular weight, with the most enrichment seen in blends containing the lower-molecular-weight PMMA homopolymer. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results are also presented.