Phenylene motion in polycarbonate and polycarbonate/additive mixtures

Abstract

Pulsed deuteron NMR line shapes have been analysed to characterize type and time scale of the phenylene group motion in glassy bisphenol-A polycarbonate. The motional mechanism involvesπ-flips about theC ₁ C ₄ axis augmented by small angle fulctuations about the same axis, reaching a rms amplitude of ±35‡ at 380 K. The distribution of correlation times for theπ-flips is heterogeneous in nature and can be described either by a log-Gaussian or an asymmetric distribution with a more rapid decay at high correlation times comparable to the Williams-Watts distribution. From both distributions essentailly the same mean activation energy of 37 kJ/mol is obtained, whereas the temperature dependent width of the highly asymmetric distribution is somewhat smaller compared to the log-Gaussian distribution. Time scale and activation energy of theπ-flip motion are correlated to secondary mechanical relaxations. Low molecular mass additives, which suppress the mechanical relaxation, also hinder the phenylene motion for a substantial fraction of phenylene groups. The effect of additives is not only to shift the mean value of the distribution of correlation times to higher values but also to increase drastically the width of the distribution. The results of this work strongly suggest that the secondary mechanical relaxation and the large amplitude motions of the phenylene groups in polycarbonate are related.