Abstract

The preparation of series of hydroxy propyl cellulose/Poly (vinyl alcohol) blends with different weight ratios
and their miscibility studies using simple physical techniques such as viscosity, ultrasonic velocity, and
refractive index were carried out at 30 oC. The effect of concentration, composition on the miscibility of the
blends has been reported. The plots of reduced viscosity versus concentration of HPC/PVA blends vary linearly
over the entire composition range. The interaction parameters ΔB and μ proposed by Chee and α proposed by
Sun have been obtained using the viscosity data to probe the miscibility of the polymer blends and the results
suggest that HPC/PVA blends were completely miscible in all proportions. The conclusions drawn from
viscosity data have been confirmed by the ultrasonic velocity and refractive index studies also. The films of the
blends were prepared by solution casting method using water as solvent. The prepared films have been
characterized by analytical techniques such as FTIR, DSC, X-RD and SEM to probe the miscibility of the blends
and concluded that HPC/PVA blends are miscible at all the compositions due to the strong intermolecular
hydrogen bonding interactions between HPC and PVA.