Morphological, thermal and mechanical properties of rubber and polysulfoneblends

The study of nine blends between a polysulfone and a thermoplastic elastome r is presented here. These blends are implemented using an extrusion proces s without addition of compatibilisant. The main properties required are fle xibility and thermal resistance of material. We choose a polysulfone for it s properties of thermal behaviour, and interpenetrating network as minority flexible phase. The blends carried out contain 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 40, 50, 60% of rubber flexible phase. We follow the evolution of the mechanical pro perties by the study of the storage modulus of blends. The thermal properti es come from the change of glass transition temperature of each component i n the blend. The stability of the properties of the blends can be connected to their internal morphologies. All these properties can be studied with t he traditional techniques of characterisation techniques: dynamic mechanica l analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy. Resul ts tend to show the immiscibility of phases in these blends. However, in sp ite of the presence of two different phases, the blends present interesting mechanical and thermal properties thus a uniform morphology. (C) 2001 Else vier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.