Mechanical and Optical Properties of Polycarbonate Containing p-Terphenyl

Mechanical and optical properties of polycarbonate (PC) containing p-terphenyl (p-tPh) are studied. It is found from the dynamic mechanical spectra that the addition of p-tPh greatly enhances the modulus in the glassy state due to the antiplasticizing effect. Moreover, p-tPh molecules dissolved in PC show marked intermolecular orientation correlation with PC chains during hot-stretching. As a result, p-tPh orients to the stretching direction accompanying the orientation of PC chains. Because p-tPh shows a high level of optical anisotropy, the oriented p-tPh molecules enhance the orientation birefringence. The enhancement of both modulus and optical anisotropy leads to a thinner retardation film, which will be a great benefit in the industry.