Morphology of polyvinylidene fluoride and its blend in thermally induced phase separation process

Abstract

Abstract Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and its blend films were prepared by melt‐blending the binary mixture of PVDF/dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and the ternary mixture of PVDF/CaCO 3 /DBP in combination of TIPS. Their morphologies were characterized by scanning electron microscope depended on preparation condition, such as the diluent and CaCO 3 weight fraction, and the cooling rate, and the crystallization information was also investigated by DSC. The results showed that CaCO 3 influenced the morphology of PVDF in the TIPS process regardless of the cooling conditions, and the formation of the spherulitic morphology can be disturbed by CaCO 3 at the quenching condition. The effect of CaCO 3 weight fraction on the tensile strength of PVDF was measured, which indicated CaCO 3 had a negative effect on PVDF tensile strength. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 2944–2952, 2006