Thermal degradation behaviour of poly(vinyl chloride)-poly(vinyl butyral) blends

Binary blends of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and poly(vinyl butyral) (PVB) h ave been prepared by solution blending. The physical and mechanical propert ies of the blends are studied usind differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) , thermogravimetry (TG) and tensile testing. The DSC results showed a high degree of molecular mixing of the two polymers. All the blends exhibited on e major glass transition temperature (T-g) whose position on the temperatur e scale is lowered with increasing level of PVB. The thermal stability of t he blends was found to increase with the increase in the PVB content in the blend. This is illustrated by both TG and rate of thermal dehydrochlorinat ion of various investigated blends. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All righ ts reserved.