Study on the compatibilization of polycarbonate(PC) and poly(vinylidene fluoride)(PVDF) using ToF SIMS

It is well known that one of the most important issues in the study of polymer blends is the compatibilization of immiscible polymer blends. In general, the compatibilization can be achieved by the addition of a properly designed block or graft copolymer to the immiscible polymer blends. Accordingly, the morphology of the blends can be controlled and the interfacial adhesion can be enhanced. However, for some immiscible polymer blend pairs, such as the PC/PVDF blend, no parent block or graft copolymer can be made available whatever synthetic approach. In this case, a homopolymer which can be miscible or compatible with the two immiscible components is a promising choice. Recently, Jerome and co-workers(1) studied the ability of PMMA to improve the PC/PVDF interfacial adhesion. Their results illustrated that PMMA could enhance the interfacial adhesion at high temperatures. But they did not show the direct evidence that revealed the enhancement mechanism. Thus, to get the direct evidence is of great importance in the understanding of the compatibilization of PC/PVDF blends by the addition of PMMA. In the present work, the compatibilization of PC/PVDF blends by the addition of PMMA is elucidated in detail using Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry(ToF SIMS