Miscibility

About: Miscibility is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5521 publications have been published within this topic receiving 133547 citations. The topic is also known as: miscible.

Conformational Entropy Contributions to the Glass Temperature of Blends of Miscible Polymers.

Abstract: Because of negligible contributions of combinatorial entropy, miscibility of polymers is attributed predominantly to favorable (exothermic) enthalpic effects of mixing, i.e., to strong interactions between the blend components, which have to overcome the cohesive forces acting within the components. Miscibility of amorphous polymers usually is associated with the presence of a single glass temperature of the blend. Although stronger hetero-contact interactions are thermodynamically required for polymer miscibility, the majority of miscible binary polymer blends exhibit negative deviations of the glass temperature from values predicted by the free volume or flexible bond additivity rules, suggesting a looser packing within those blends. A reasonable explanation assumes that binary hetero-contact formation within the blend may be accompanied by local interchain orientation contributing consequently to conformational entropy changes. The smaller the induced interchain orientation by hetero-contact formation, the larger the mobility in the neighborhood of the contacts and the probability of related conformational entropy changes, causing an equivalent increase of the "free volume" within the blend, i.e., a corresponding decrease of the blend Tg, which finally can be situated below the values predicted by the additivity rules. Vice versa, the corresponding argument will hold for blends with higher interchain orientation induced by intensive exothermic hetero-contact forces.

Characterization and processing of blends of polyethylene terephthalate with several liquid crystalline polymers

Abstract: Blends of an engineering thermoplastic, poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), and two liquid crystalline polymers (LCPs) viz., copolyesters of PET and parahydrox-ybenzoic acid (PHB) in 40/60 mole percent (LCP60) and in 20/80 mole percent (LCP80) were prepared. A blend of LCP60 and LCP80 in 50/50 weight percent (LCP60-80) was blended with PET. Both flat films and rods were extruded and their properties examined. The morphology of the films investigated using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) revealed that the LCP phase remained as dispersed droplets in the PET matrix. In spite of the lack of fibrillation in these films, the mechanical properties were enhanced to some extent with a maximum at 10 weight percent of the LCP phase. However, in the case of the rods thin fibrils of the LCP phase of the order of 1 μm in diameter were observed provided the composition of the LCP was 20 weight percent or greater. This success In achieving fibrillation is through to be due to the extensional flow fields present at the entrance of the capillary die and the fact that a short L/D ratio die was used. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) thermograms of the extruded films indicated that the LCP phase may act as a nucleating agent for the crystallization of PET. Rheology of the blends revealed that the complex viscosity of the blends is not much different from that of pure PET. This is attributed to the partial miscibility of the two components. Based on the DSC results and residence times in the extruder, it is concluded that no significant transesterification reactions appear to have: taken place in the blends. The rheology is studied further with respect to the cooling behavior of the pure components and factors important to the fibrillation of the LCP phase and the formation of in-situ reinforced composites are discussed.