Preparation,morphologies and properties of multiwalled carbon nanotubes-filled PMMA/PVC blends

The poly (methyl methacrylate) (pmma)/poly vinyl chloride (pvc) (10 wt% pmma/90 wt%pvc (α) and 20wt% pmma/80 wt.% pvc (β)) blends,and functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (f-mwnts) filled α and β nanocomposites were prepared via solution casting technique. the scanning electron microscopy (sem) images show that pmma and pvc are completely miscible in the blend system. the thermo gravimetric analyzer (tga) thermograms of α and β blends system showed that there is two stage thermal degradation,the first stage degradation of pmma/pvc is due to dehydrochlorination of pvc. the f-mwnts (1 and 3 wt%) filled α and β nanocomposites showed similar tg curves as shown by neat α and β blends. however,the thermal stabilities of f-mwnts/pmma/pvc shifted toward high temperature (about 20°c) as compared to pure pmma/pvc blends. the mechanical properties of α and β were gradually decreased when the quantity of f-wmnts was increased in α and β blends,which might be due to the crack formation /agglomeration of f-mwnts within both type of polymer blends. it was found that the solvent uptake of neat blends and f-mwnts filled blend systems was rapid initially and then almost constant after reaching a specific time. © 2015,chemical society of pakistan. all rights reserved.