Preparation, Thermal, and Thermo-Mechanical Characterization of Polymeric Blends Based on Di(meth)acrylate Monomers

This study presents the preparation and the thermo-mechanical characteristics of polymeric blends based on di(meth)acrylates monomers. Bisphenol A glycerolate diacrylate (BPA.GDA) or ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) were used as crosslinking monomers. Methyl methacrylate (MMA) was used as an active solvent in both copolymerization approaches. Commercial polycarbonate (PC) was used as a modifying soluble additive. The preparation of blends and method of polymerization by using UV initiator (Irqacure^® 651) was proposed. Two parallel sets of MMA-based materials were obtained. The first included more harmless linear hydrocarbons (EGDMA + MMA), whereas the second included the usually used aromatic copolymers (BPA.GDA + MMA). The influence of different amounts of PC on the physicochemical properties was discussed in detail. Chemical structures of the copolymers were confirmed by attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR/FT-IR) spectroscopy. Thermo-mechanical properties of the synthesized materials were investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric (TG/DTG) analyses, and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The hardness of the obtained materials was also tested. In order to evaluate the surface of the materials, their images were obtained with the use of atomic force microscopy (AFM).