DIELECTRIC AND MECHANICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF ARYL ESTER DENDRIMER PET BLENDS/

The structure-property relationships of miscible blends of two aryl es ter dendrimers with poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) have been inves tigated. Although dielectric studies show relatively small effects on the glass transition process, the addition of dendrimers to PET produc es a significant modification of the tensile drawing behaviour which m ay be interpreted in terms of the stretching of a molecular network. T he smaller of the two dendrimers investigated acts as a plasticizer an d reduces the chain entanglement density of the blend, whereas the lar ger dendrimer acts as an antiplasticizing agent and increases the enta nglement density. (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.