Processing and characterization of liquid crystalline copoly-(ethylene terephthalate-co-2(3)-chloro-1,4-phenylene terephthalate)/polycarbonate blends

Liquid crystalline (LC) poly(ethylene terephthalate-co-2(3)-chloro-1,4-phenylene terephthalate) (50/50, mole/mole) [PECPT] was synthesized and blended with polycarbonate (PC). LC properties of PECPT and thermal, morphological, and rheological behaviors of the PECPT/PC blend were studied. PECPT showed the nematic LC phase and much longer relaxation time than poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). The apparent melt viscosity of PECPT was one third of that of PET. An abrupt torque change was observed during the blending process due to the orientation of LC domains. For the blends containing 10∼30 wt% of PECPT, the complex viscosities were higher than that of PC. As PECPT content increases above 40 wt%, shear thinning was observed. The lowest complex viscosity was obtained at 40∼50 wt%. Transesterification of PECPT and PC was confirmed by the selective chemical degradation of carbonate groups in PC.