Probing the effect of high energy ball milling on PVC through a multitechnique approach

The effects induced by ball milling treatment on PVC features and properties were deeply investigated through a multitechnique approach. SEM analysis showed a drastic change in PVC morphology; the hierarchical structure of PVC grains was partially destroyed as well as the domain size strongly reduced. A X-ray diffraction and DSC comparative study proved a structural modification in the PVC crystalline phase. Moreover, it was found that these morphological and structural changes strongly affected the gelation behavior, the microstructure and the mechanical parameters of PVC. In particular, the gelation time increased with increasing the ball milling time; the residual primary crystallite content doubled with respect to neat PVC and the toughness improved up to 25% as a function of the resulting microstructure.