Study on the rheological, thermal and mechanical properties of thermoplastic polyurethane/poly (butylene terephthalate) blends

Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)/poly (butylene terephthalate) (PBT) blends with different ratios were prepared by extrusion and injection molding. The morphology, dynamic viscoelastic, capillary rheological, thermal and mechanical properties of the blends were studied. Results showed that there was good compatibility between TPU and PBT. The capillary rheological properties showed that the apparent viscosity decreased with the TPU content. DSC analysis indicated that with increasing TPU content the crystallization temperature (T-c), the melting point (T-m) and the percent crystallinity (X-c) decreased. Mechanical properties showed that the addition of TPU could lead to a remarkable increase, about 368.18%, in impact strength with a small reduction in tensile and flexural strength of TPU/PBT blends. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.