In addition to a short summary about chemical and physical fundamentals this article gives an overview of the thermo mechanical properties of analysed interlayer materials received by using different examination methods. Furthermore the range of application and the limitation of use are derived from the results.
Various polymeric interlayer are used for laminated glazing and photovoltaic modules. Thereby, interlayer of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) with various modifications, thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU), ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) as well as polyethylene (PE) are mainly used. The materials differ in their chemical composition and morphology.
The aggregate state of polymers depends on temperature. The most important phases are the entropy elastic and the energy elastic state because they define the range of application. The glass transition temperature (Tg) and other thermal transitions such as crystallisation, relaxation, and phase transitions are characteristic properties for polymeric materials. Various analytical methods like dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were tested to determine these thermo mechanical properties of the polymer interlayer materials.