Poly (vinyl chloride) and poly (ethylene glycol) binary blend films: a study of thermal and shape memory properties

Abstract

In this report, poly vinyl chloride (PVC) / poly ethylene glycol (PEG) blends in different ratios were prepared by solvent casting method. Prepared polymer blends were characterized by Attenuated total Reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). In the ATR-FTIR spectra of the polymer blends, it was determined that the peak of the C-Cl stretching vibration at 613 cm-1 belonging to PVC, the strongest signal was seen in 75% PVC - 25% PEG blend. According to thermal properties measurement results, it was observed that the enthalpy of the blends increased as the percentage of PEG increased. The DSC study showed that the T-m value of PEG, which has a melting temperature of 76.7 degrees C, decreased to 64.4 degrees C with increasing PVC percentage. The shape memory properties of the PEG/PVC blend shows that the blend could return to its former shape in a short time of about 30 s. The characteristic X-ray signals of PEG, which is in semi-crystalline form, at 2O = 19.2 degrees and 23.4 degrees were determined from XRD analysis.