Effect of Mechanical Properties in Enhanced Polymeric Blend Membranes

This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of blending the rubbery and glassy polymer with an alkanolamine on the mechanical properties. Due to the intrinsic properties of glassy polysulfone (PSU) and rubbery polyvinyl acetate (PVAc), optimizing their properties by blending both polymers is expected to address the shortage. The enhanced polymeric blend membrane (EPBM) was developed by varying the composition of PVAc ranging from 5 to 20 wt. % with 95 to 80 wt. % base PSU in dimethyl- acetamide (DMAc) solvent. The DEA amine composition was added to the blend and kept at 10 wt. % over solvent. The tensile analysis technique is utilized to evaluate the mechanical behaviour of a polymeric material which comprises the deformation of the polymeric material underneath the effect of an applied force prior to failure. The mechanical analysis showed improvement in tensile strength, Young's modulus and elongation at break properties with the increase in PVAc/DEA composition in the enhanced polymeric blend membranes. The elongation at break property increased with an increase in the amine contents which indicated the flexibility of the EPBM. In addition, the mechanical analysis revealed remarkable enhancement in the mechanical properties of the EPBM which might be attributed to the robust interactions among the PSU blend with PVAc and DEA.