Author(s)

Osiris W. Guirguis, Manal T. H. Moselhey

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Polymers and polymeric composites have steadily reflected their importance in our daily life. Blending poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with a potentially useful natural biopolymers such as hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) seems to be an interesting way of preparing a polymeric blends. In the present work, blends of PVA/HPC of compositions (100/0, 90/10, 75/25, 50/50, 25/75, and 0/100 wt/wt%) were prepared to be used as bioequivalent materials. Thermal analyses [differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)], and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were employed to characterize and reveal the miscibility map and the structural properties of such blend system. The obtained results of the thermal analyses showed variations in the glass transition temperature (T_g) indicating the miscibility of the blend systems. Moreover, the changes in the melting temperature (Tm), shape and area were attributed to the different degrees of crystallinity and the existence of polymer-polymer interactions between PVA and HPC molecules. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed broadening and sharpening of peaks at different HPC concentrations with PVA. This indicated changes in the crystallinity/amorphosity ratio, and also suggested that the miscibility between the amorphous components of homo-polymers PVA and HPC is possible. The results showed that HPC doped in PVA film can improve the thermal stability of the film under investigation, leading to interesting technological applications.

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA); Hydroxypropyl Cellulose (HPC); Differential canning Calorimetry (DSC);Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA);X-Ray Diffraction (XRD)

Guirguis, O. and Moselhey, M. (2012) Thermal and structural studies of poly (vinyl alcohol) and hydroxypropyl cellulose blends. Natural Science, 4, 57-67. doi: 10.4236/ns.2012.41009.