LAUSR

Mechanical properties of filled and neat polystyrene films prepared under the same conditions have been studied. Composite films have been obtained from mixed dilute solutions of polystyrene and C60 fullerene in various solvents by solvent evaporation on glass substrate. Morphology of the composite films has been shown to depend on preparation conditions and to change both with time and during deformation. Mechanical parameters obtained in tensile tests and by dynamic mechanical analysis of filled and unfilled samples have been found to change with molecular weight of the matrix and preparation conditions as well as during testing. Variability of mechanical properties has been shown to be the effect of destructive changes in polymer matrices during preparation, storage, and deformation. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 44520.