Thermal Analysis of the Biodegradable Polymer PVA/PEO Blends

Abstract

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and poly(ethylene) oxide (PEO) are widely used water-soluble and biodegradable polymers that possesses high biocompatibility. In this work PVA/PEO blends were prepared via solution casting method, where the solvent was water. After drying, samples were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TG). Since DSC could not confirm the possible intermolecular interaction between PVA and PEO, infrared spectroscopy with Fourier transform (FT-IR) was utilized. Finally, the TG analysis revealed that degradation of PVA/PEO blends proceeds through tree stages, similar as neat PVA. Contrary, neat PEO thermally degrade through only one stage showing better thermal stability in comparison to PVA.