Polymer-polymer interactions via analog calorimetry. 2. Blends of polystyrene with bisphenol-A polycarbonate and tetramethyl bisphenol-A polycarbonate

Analog calorimetry is used as a tool to study the interaction of polystyrene, PS, with bisphenol-A polycarbonate, PC, and with tetramethyl bisphenol-A polycarbonate, TMPC. Electrostatic charge calculations were used as a guide to divide polymer repeat units and analogs into groups. A mean-field binary interaction model was used to evaluate group interaction energies. The enthalpic interaction energy obtained from this study for the PS-PC pair is 0.41 ± 0.13 cal/cm3 while that for the PS-TMPC pair is 0.19 ± 0.34 cal/cm3. The result for PS-PC blends is in good agreement with values obtained from studies using the critical molecular weight approach and the phase behavior of copolymer blends. The value for PS-TMPC does not correctly predict the phase behavior of this blend; however, its standard deviation (on both an absolute and relative basis) is large and the range of possible interaction energies includes the negative values obtained from neutron scattering. The results of this study indicate that the presence of methyl groups on the aromatic ring of TMPC repeat unit is the main factor favoring the miscibility of PS-TMPC blends.