Investigation of the thermal and rheological properties of PET/PBT blends

Abstract

The use of polymer materials, due to their easy processing and low cost, is becoming increasingly common today and is frequently used in the industry. Polymer blending is a simple, effective, and cost-effective approach to obtaining a new composite with desired combinations of properties without overtly compromising its advantages. Polymer blends are formed by the physical mixing of two or more polymers. Poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) are two of the most important aromatic-aliphatic polyester resins in the industry. PET and PBT have similar chemical structures and can undergo transesterification reactions at high temperatures. Therefore, they form a miscible blend in the amorphous state without the need for compatibilizers to be used. PET resins are difficult to process due to their slow crystallization rate, high heat deflection temperature, low melt strength, and hardness. Thanks to the flexible butylene groups in the PBT structure, it is easier to process because it has a higher crystallization rate and better melt strength. Blending PBT with PET provides a product with good mechanical and high electrical insulating properties and improves machinability, surface appearance, heat deflection temperature, impact strength, and dimensional stability. Through these features, it is used in automotive parts, household and kitchen appliances that require mechanical, high heat, and chemical resistance. These blends are also used to produce visible parts of devices that require a smooth and glossy surface appeal. While blending PET and PBT provides new structures with superior properties, these structures may also have disadvantages such as brittleness and relatively low mechanical properties. Using chain extenders when forming blends can result in improvements in the shear thinning, shear and elongation viscosity, melt elasticity and melt strength behavior of polymers, and thus in the performance of the final product. In this thesis, PET/PBT blends were produced using a twin-screw extruder. The pellets produced with the extruder were then formed into test specimens using injection molding. Multi-functional styrene-acrylic additive with epoxy reactive groups, whose trade name is Joncryl ADR 4368 ®, was used as the chain extender agent. First, PET and PBT samples were extruded. Afterward, 0.75% by weight Joncryl additive was physically mixed with the obtained samples, and pellets were produced in the extruder. While preparing the blends, PET was added to PBT at rates of 25, 50, and 75% by weight. While Joncryl was added to the PET/PBT blends, pellets were produced in the extruder by physically mixing the PBT, PET, and Joncryl additive material. In this thesis, the effects of using different ratios of PET and adding chain extender on PET/PBT blends were investigated. The thermal properties and crystallization behaviors of the developed blend materials were investigated using the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) method. The rheological properties were investigated using a rotational rheometer. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used to observe the structural changes in the samples.