Morphology and mechanical properties of a rubber reinforced composite

Abstract

The properties of interstitial polymers composed of glassy domains dispersed in a continuous rubber matrix are described. The effects of the relative composition of glass and rubber and the domain size of the glassy polymers on the bulk properties is described in detail for a composite in which polymethyl methacrylate is the glassy phase and a polyurethane is the elastomeric component. The observed moduli are always higher than values calculated on the basis of theories which assume no interfacial interaction between the two phases. Furthermore, the loss peak for the rubber process is least well defined when the surface area of the glassy domains is largest. These effects are interpreted as evidence for intermolecular interactions between the two components in an interfacial layer.