Translucent blends of chlorinated polyethylene with poly(vinyl chloride)

Abstract

Abstract Some experimental chlorinated polyethylene (CPE) resins that produced translucent blends with PVC were used to study the effects of CPE chlorine content and chlorine distribution on the morphology, optical clarity, and toughness of blends with PVC. The CPE resins were characterized in terms of the glass transition temperature, residual crystallinity, density, and refractive index. Increasing residual crystallinity and increasing chlorine content both increased the refractive index closer to that of PVC. A linear relationship was observed between the fourth power of the refractive index and the CPE glass transition temperature. With a phase‐separated blend morphology in all cases, improved transparency was achieved in this system by reducing the refractive index difference between CPE and PVC. Both haze and transparency showed the predicted linear dependence on the square of the refractive index difference. To a first approximation, modifications of the experimental CPE resins that improved optical transparency of the blends also tended to reduce the toughness enhancement.