Influence of Gum Ghatti on Morphological and Mechanical Properties of Poly(vinylalcohol)/Poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) Blend Films

In the present study, different weight percent of gum ghatti doped poly (vinyl alcohol)/poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) blend films were prepared by solution blending and solvent evaporating technique. The prepared blend films were analyzed for phase morphology and mechanical properties. Different weight percent (wt%) of gum ghatti incorporated blend films were evaluated by using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Universal Testing Machine (UTM). SEM micrographs of the blend system showed initially good miscibility and homogeneous phase morphology but higher weight percent of gum ghatti presented heterogeneous phase morphology. The results of mechanical properties showed increased tensile strength, young’s modulus and elongation at break. The Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) study confirmed that strong interaction between each blend components, indicating the formation of cross link and intermolecular interaction in the blend films.