On the compatibility of polysaccharide/maleic copolymer blends - I. Thermal behaviour of dextran containing blends

The compatibility of dextran (D) with maleic acid-vinyl acetate copolymer ( MAc-VA) in the solid state as a thin film has been studied by coupling ther mogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry with infrared spectrosco py. Optical and electron microscopy have been also used to investigate the morphology of the blends. It has been established that blends with a conten t of dextran higher than 85 wt.% exhibit good compatibility, the morphology of the blends being a homogeneous fine particle dispersion, while blends w ith a prevalent MAc-VA copolymer content exhibit a tendency to phase separa tion. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. AU rights reserved.