Morphology Development in Multi‐Component Polymer Blends: I Composition Effect on Phase Morphology in PP/PET Polymer Blends

The relationship of the phase morphology of polypropylene/polyethylene‐terephthalate (PP/PET) blends and their corresponding compatibilized blends with composition was investigated using digital image analysis. A diameter, d _g , was defined and calculated to discuss the phase morphology of this polymer blend system. A figure‐estimation method was introduced to determine the width of the distribution of d _g . Based on the method, it is proven that the distribution of d _g obeys a log‐normal distribution and consequently, the distribution width, σ was calculated. Further, a fractal dimension, D _f , was introduced to describe the distribution of main sizes of the particles of the dispersed phase. The results showed that, while d _g increased with the concentration of the dispersed phase, σ and D _f show different dependence relations on composition;σ increases monotonously but D _f shows a maximum at a PET content of 30%, indicating that, even though the whole size distribution is much broader, the distribution of the main body of size becomes more uniform when the content of PET is less than 30%.