Abstract
We have studied the lamella-level morphology of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)/polycarbonate (PC) blends using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Measurements were made as a function of the holding time in the melt. We determined the morphological parameters at the lamellar level by correlation function analysis of the SAXS data. An increased amorphous layer thickness was identified in the blend, indicating that some PC was incorporated into the interlamellar regions of PET during crystallization. The blend also exhibits a larger lamella crystalline thickness (l$\sub$c/) than that of pure PET. A possible reason for the increase in l$\sub$c/ is that the inclusion of the PC molecules in the interlamellar regions causes an increase in the surface free energy of folding. At the early stage of isothermal crystallization, we observed a rapid drop in the value of l$\sub$c/ in the blend; this finding indicates that a relatively large fraction of secondary crystals form during the primary crystallization. In contrast, the value of l$\sub$c/ for the sample that underwent a prolonged holding time increased with time in the secondary crystallization-dominant regime; this observation suggests that the disruption of chain periodicity, which results from transesterification between the two polymers, favors the development of fringed micellar crystals that have larger values of l$\sub$c/ rather than the development of normal chain-folded crystals.