Understanding thermal and rheological behaviors of bimodal polymethyl methacrylate (BPMMA) fabricated via solution blending

Abstract

Abstract In this work, a series of bimodal polymethyl methacrylate (BPMMA) was fabricated via solution-blending two neat PMMA resins. Rheology, DMTA, thermal infrared imager measurements were used in an attempt to probe the internal structure of the as-prepared BPMMA. It was demonstrated that the thermorheological behavior of the BPMMA was heavily dependent on shear rate, temperature as well as blending ratio. In addition, a typical “V-shaped” response, namely, a dip in storage modulus (G′) followed by an upturn in the plot of G′ versus measuring temperature for D4 (with lower weight-average molecular weight) was observed, characteristic of occurrence of thermorheological complexity. Our experimental results of physical–mechanical testings suggested that the BPMMA had better comprehensive properties than those of their neat PMMA counterparts.