Structure and mechanical properties for binary blends of polypropylene and ethylene‐1‐hexene copolymer

The structure and mechanical properties of the injection‐molded products for the binary blends composed of an isotactic polypropylene (PP) and a rubbery ethylene‐1‐hexene copolymer (EHR) were studied. The following two types of blends were employed: one is the incompatible blend of PP and ethylene‐rich EHR; the other is the compatible blend of PP and 1‐hexene‐rich EHR. The incompatible blend shows a phase‐separated morphology, in which EHR domains in the skin layer highly orient to the flow direction. On the other hand, the compatible blend shows fairly homogeneous morphology in the skin and core regions, in which EHR molecules are dissolved into the amorphous PP region. The measurements of birefringence and infrared dichroism revealed that the magnitude of molecular orientation along the flow direction for the compatible blend is larger than that for the incompatible blend. Nevertheless, it was also found that anisotropy of the mechanical properties for the compatible blend is less prominent, which is attributed to lack of the mechanical connection between neighbor crystalline fragments aligned perpendicular to the flow direction. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 37: 701–713, 1999     

Glass‐formation kinetics of miscible blends of atactic polystyrene and poly(2,6‐dimethyl‐1,4‐phenylene oxide)

We present a detailed investigation of the kinetics associated with the glass transitions of miscible blends composed of atactic polystyrene (a‐PS) and poly(2,6‐dimethyl‐1,4‐phenylene oxide) (PPO). According to both dynamic mechanical analysis and differential scanning calorimetry, relaxation times displayed an enhanced temperature dependence (i.e., more fragile or more cooperative behavior) for the blends compared with additive behavior based on the responses of neat a‐PS and PPO. This is consistent with the notion that specific interactions between the blend components heighten the intermolecular cooperativity. The compositional dependence of fragility provided insight into physical aging results for the properties of volume and enthalpy. The combination of our research and a previously reported pressure–volume–temperature study by Zoller and Hoehn (J Polym Sci Polym Phys Ed 1982, 20, 1385) provided evidence that the observation of increased glassy densities for the blends compared with those of the pure polymers was kinetic in origin and was not a feature of the thermodynamics of miscibility. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 39: 2118–2129, 2001     

Blends of poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate)/4,4′‐thiodiphenol and poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyvalerate)/ 4,4′‐thiodiphenol: Specific interaction and properties

The specific interaction between poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB)] and 4,4′‐thiodiphenol (TDP) and between poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and TDP was investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Interassociated hydrogen bonds were found between the polyester chains and the TDP molecules in the binary blends. The fractions of associated carbonyl groups, F_b 's, in the blends first increased and then decreased as the TDP content increased. The thermal and dynamic mechanical properties of P(3HB)–TDP and PHBV–TDP blends were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, respectively. Thermal analysis revealed that the P(3HB)–TDP blends possessed eutectic phase behavior. Furthermore, it was found that the thermal and dynamic mechanical properties of P(3HB) and PHBV were greatly modified through blending with TDP. Environmental degradability in river water was evaluated by a biochemical oxygen demand tester, and it was clarified that TDP lowered the degradation rate of P(3HB). The results suggest that TDP is effective in modifying the physical properties as well as the biodegradability of polyesters. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 38: 2891–2900, 2000     

Ring‐banded spherulite surface structure of poly(ε‐caprolactone) in its miscible mixtures with poly(styrene‐co‐acrylonitrile)

The surface structure of the ring‐banded spherulites in polymer blends PCL/SAN (90/10) was studied by optical microscopy, SEM, and TEM, respectively. It is interesting to find that the surface structure of the ring‐banded spherulites in polymer blends PCL/SAN (90/10) is made up of the convex bands. The landscape of the convex bands on the surface has been little emphasized before. Radial fibrils are arranged on the bands. Details of the radial fibrils on the bands can be observed by TEM. The landscape of the convex bands on the surface and twisting of lamellae in the convex bands for PCL/SAN blends may be useful to explain the formation mechanism of the ring banded spherulites in polymer blends or even in homopolymers. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 37: 2682–2691, 1999     

Investigation of the deformation of homogeneous poly(ethylene‐co‐1‐octene) by wide‐ and small‐angle X‐ray scattering using synchrotron radiation

The deformation behavior of homogeneous ethylene‐1‐octene copolymers was investigated as a function of the crystallinity and the crystal size and perfection, respectively, by wide‐ and small‐angle X‐ray scattering using synchrotron radiation. The crystallinity and the crystal size and perfection, respectively, are controlled by the copolymer composition and the condition of melt crystallization. The deformation includes rotation of crystals, followed by plastic deformation and complete melting of the initial crystal population, and final formation of microfibrils. The process of rotation, plastic deformation, and melting of crystals of the initial structure is completed at lower strain if the size and perfection of the crystals, respectively, decrease, that is, if crystals thermally melt at lower temperature. The kinetics of the fibrillation of the initial structure seems independent of the crystal symmetry, that is, rotation and melting of pseudohexagonal and orthorhombic polyethylene crystals (as evident in low‐crystalline specimens) are similar. The structure of the microfibrils, before and after stress release, is almost independent of the condition of prior melt crystallization, which supports the notion of complete melting of the initial crystal population. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 1919–1930, 2002     

Nonisothermal crystallization and melting behavior of poly(β‐hydroxybutyrate)–Poly(vinyl‐acetate) blends

Nonisothermal crystallization and melting behavior of poly(β‐hydroxybutyrate) (PHB)–poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) blends from the melt were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry using various cooling rates. The results show that crystallization of PHB from the melt in the PHB–PVAc blends depends greatly upon cooling rates and blend compositions. For a given composition, the crystallization process begins at higher temperatures when slower scanning rates are used. At a given cooling rate, the presence of PVAc reduces the overall PHB crystallization rate. The Avrami analysis modified by Jeziorny and a new method were used to describe the nonisothermal crystallization process of PHB–PVAc blends very well. The double‐melting phenomenon is found to be caused by crystallization during heating in DSC. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 37: 443–450, 1999     

Prediction of stress‐relaxation behavior in high density polyethylene solids

The stress‐relaxation behavior of a high density polyethylene solid was investigated using a nonlinear viscoelastic model in which two nonlinear parameters such as the anharmonicity in elastic response and the plastic deformation are introduced into a generalized Maxwell model. The determination of the nonlinear parameters demands the transient modulus data under a constant rate of deformation. The nonlinear viscoelastic model developed from the tensile behavior was found to predict the stress‐relaxation behavior in the nonlinear region.     

Viscoelastic interfacial properties of compatibilized poly(ε‐caprolactone)/polylactide blend

Poly(ε‐caprolactone)/polylactide blend (PCL/PLA) is an interesting biomaterial because the two component polymers show good complementarity in their physical properties. However, PCL and PLA are incompatible thermodynamically and hence the interfacial properties act as the important roles controlling the final properties of their blends. Thus, in this work, the PCL/PLA blends were prepared by melt mixing using the block copolymers as compatibilizer for the studies of interfacial properties. Several rheological methods and viscoelastic models were used to establish the relations between improved phase morphologies and interfacial properties. The results show that the interfacial behaviors of the PCL/PLA blends highly depend on the interface‐located copolymers. The presence of copolymers reduces the interfacial tension and emulsified the phase interface, leading to stabilization of the interface and retarding both the shape relaxation and the elastic interface relaxation. As a result, besides the relaxation of matrices (τ_m) and the shape relaxation of the dispersed PLA phase (τ_F), a new relaxation behavior (τ_β), which is attribute to the relaxation of Marangoni stresses tangential to the interface between dispersed PLA phase and matrix PCL, is observed on the compatibilized blends. In contrast to that of the diblock copolymers, the triblock copolymers show higher emulsifying level. However, both can improve the overall interfacial properties and enhance the mechanical strength of the PCL/PLA blends as a result. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 756–765, 2010     

Alkyl side chain length dependent compatibility of poly(4‐n‐alkylstyrene)s and 1,4‐rich polyisoprene blends

We investigated the compatibility of blends of 1,4‐rich polyisoprene (1,4‐PI) and poly(4‐n‐alkylstyrene)s with six kinds of n‐alkyl side groups, that is, methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, hexyl, and octyl focusing on carbon number of alkyl groups. Poly(4‐methylstyrene)/1,4‐PI blend was turned out to be immiscible at all temperature range adopted in this work and poly(4‐ethylstyrene)/1,4‐PI blend revealed UCST type phase behavior, while the others were found to be compatible. The phase diagrams of poly(4‐ethylstyrene)/1,4‐PI blends were obtained by optical microscopy, and the temperature dependence of the Flory‐Huggins interaction parameter χ has been estimated to be χ = ?0.036 + 24/T by applying lattice theory, where T is the absolute temperature. From this relationship χ value at room temperature (298 K) was calculated to be 0.045, the value is reasonably low for miscible polymers system. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2017 , 55 , 1791–1797     

Epoxy resin/poly(ϵ‐caprolactone) blends cured with 2,2‐bis[4‐(4‐aminophenoxy)phenyl]propane. II. Studies by Fourier transform infrared and carbon‐13 cross‐polarization/magic‐angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Crystalline thermosetting blends composed of 2,2′‐bis[4‐(4‐aminophenoxy)phenyl]propane‐crosslinked epoxy resin (ER) and poly(?‐caprolactone) (PCL) were investigated by means of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and high‐resolution solid‐state NMR spectroscopy. FTIR investigations indicated that there were specific intermolecular interactions between ER and PCL and that the intermolecular hydrogen‐bonding interactions were weaker than the self‐association in pure epoxy. The intermolecular hydrogen bonding was considered to be the driving force for the miscibility of the thermosetting blends. For the examination of the miscibility of the thermosetting blends at the molecular level, high‐resolution solid‐state ¹³C cross‐polarity/magic‐angle spinning (CP‐MAS) NMR spectroscopy was employed. The line width of ¹³C CP‐MAS spectra decreased with increasing PCL contents, and the chemical shift of the carbonyl carbon resonance of PCL shifted to a low field with an increasing epoxy content in the blends. The proton spin–lattice relaxation experiments in the laboratory frame showed that all the blends possessed identical, composition‐dependent relaxation times (i.e., the proton spin–lattice relaxation times in the laboratory frame), suggesting that the thermosetting blends were homogeneous on the scale of 20–30 nm in terms of the spin‐diffusion mechanism, and this was in a good agreement with the results of differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical analysis. For the examination of the miscibility of the blends at the molecular level, the behavior of the proton lattice relaxation in the rotating frame was investigated. The homogeneity of the thermosetting blends at the molecular level was quite dependent on the blend composition. The PCL‐lean ER/PCL blends (e.g., 70/30) displayed a single homogeneous amorphous phase, and the molecular chains were intimately mixed on the segmental scale. The PCL‐rich blends displayed biexponential decay in experiments concerning the proton spin–lattice relaxation times in the rotating frame, which was ascribed to amorphous and crystalline phases. In the amorphous region, the molecular chains of epoxy and PCL were intimately mixed at the molecular level. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 1099–1111, 2003     

Investigation of the micromechanical deformation behavior of styrene–butadiene star block copolymer/polystyrene blends with high‐voltage electron microscopy

The deformation behavior of blends consisting of a styrene–butadiene star block copolymer and a polystyrene homopolymer was studied by high‐voltage electron microscopy with a tensile device. The mechanical properties and micromechanical deformation mechanisms in the star block copolymer/polystyrene blends were directly influenced by their morphology. Although the pure block copolymer deformed in a very unequal manner (because of a thin‐layer‐yielding mechanism) and revealed no local deformation zones, a transition to the formation of crazelike zones was observed in the blends. This transition in the deformation mechanisms was correlated to the abrupt change in the macroscopic strain at break of the injection‐molded specimens. At lower contents of added polystyrene, a craze‐stopping mechanism was observed, whereas the blends with higher polystyrene contents demonstrated crazing like that in pure polystyrene. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 1157–1167, 2003     

Water‐disintegrative and biodegradable blends containing poly(L‐lactic acid) and poly(butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate)

In this study, novel biodegradable materials were successfully generated, which have excellent mechanical properties in air during usage and storage, but whose structure easily disintegrates when immersed in water. The materials were prepared by melt blending poly(L ‐lactic acid) (PLLA) and poly(butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate) (PBAT) with a small amount of oligomeric poly(aspartic acid‐co‐lactide) (PAL) as a degradation accelerator. The degradation behavior of the blends was investigated by immersing the blend films in phosphate‐buffered saline (pH = 7.3) at 40 °C. It was shown that the PAL content and composition significantly affected morphology, mechanical properties, and hydrolysis rate of the blends. It was observed that the blends containing PAL with higher molar ratios of L ‐lactyl [LA]/[Asp] had smaller PBAT domain size, showing better mechanical properties when compared with those containing PAL with lower molar ratios of [LA]/[Asp]. The degradation rates of both PLLA and PBAT components in the ternary blends simultaneously became higher for the blends containing PAL with higher molar ratios of [LA]/[Asp]. It was confirmed that the PLLA component and its decomposed materials efficiently catalyze the hydrolytic degradation of the PBAT component, but by contrast that the PBAT component and its decomposed materials do not catalyze the hydrolytic degradation of the PLLA component in the blends. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2010     

Phase behavior,crystallization, and morphology in thermosetting blends of a biodegradable poly(ethylene glycol)‐type epoxy resin and poly(ϵ‐caprolactone)

Thermosetting blends of a biodegradable poly(ethylene glycol)‐type epoxy resin (PEG‐ER) and poly(?‐caprolactone) (PCL) were prepared via an in situ curing reaction of poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether (PEGDGE) and maleic anhydride (MAH) in the presence of PCL. The miscibility, phase behavior, crystallization, and morphology of these blends were investigated. The uncured PCL/PEGDGE blends were miscible, mainly because of the entropic contribution, as the molecular weight of PEGDGE was very low. The crystallization and melting behavior of both PCL and the poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) segment of PEGDGE were less affected in the uncured PCL/PEGDGE blends because of the very close glass‐transition temperatures of PCL and PEGDGE. However, the cured PCL/PEG‐ER blends were immiscible and exhibited two separate glass transitions, as revealed by differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical analysis. There existed two phases in the cured PCL/PEG‐ER blends, that is, a PCL‐rich phase and a PEG‐ER crosslinked phase composed of an MAH‐cured PEGDGE network. The crystallization of PCL was slightly enhanced in the cured blends because of the phase‐separated nature; meanwhile, the PEG segment was highly restricted in the crosslinked network and was noncrystallizable in the cured blends. The phase structure and morphology of the cured PCL/PEG‐ER blends were examined with scanning electron microscopy; a variety of phase morphologies were observed that depended on the blend composition. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 2833–2843, 2004     

Synthesis of electron beam cured free‐standing ion‐gel membranes for organic electronics applications

Cost efficient and facile synthesis of functional materials that enable low voltage operations is highly demanded for the future growth of plastic electronic sector. In this article we report a fast, solvent‐free and roll‐to‐roll compatible method of fabricating novel solid ion‐gel membranes from 1‐ethyl‐3‐methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethyl‐sulfonyl)imide ([EMIM][TFSI]) and acrylate monomer blends of trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TMPTA) and tetra(ethylene glycol)diacrylate (TEDGA) via electron beam curing. The manufactured free standing and solid ion‐gel membranes were successfully utilized in various electronic devices such as ion‐modulated organic thin film transistors (IMTs), supercapacitors (SC) and electrochromic (EC) displays. The tailor‐made ion‐gel membrane, with an optimized composition, exhibited high specific capacitance and good mechanical properties. The prepared IMTs operated at remarkable low voltages of less than 1.5 V with on‐currents on the order of milliamps and ON/OFF ratios greater than ～10⁴. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 2352–2360     

Study on nonlinear phase‐separation for PMMA/α‐MSAN blends by dynamic rheological and small angle light scattering measurements

The phase‐separation behavior of poly(methyl methacrylate)/poly(α‐methyl styrene‐co‐acrylonitrile) (PMMA/α‐MSAN) blends upon heating was studied through dynamic rheological measurements and time‐resolved small angle light scattering, as a function of temperatures and heating rates. The spinodal temperatures could be obtained by an examination of the anomalous critical viscoelastic properties in the vicinity of phase‐separation induced by the enhanced concentration fluctuation on the basis of the mean field theory. It is found that the dependence of the critical temperatures determined by dynamic rheological measurements and small angle light scattering on heating rates both deviates obviously from the linearity, even at the very low heating rates. Furthermore, the cloud‐point curves decrease gradually with the decrease of heating rates and present the trend of approaching T_gs of the blends. The nonlinear dependence is in consistence with that extracted from the isothermal phase‐separation behavior as reported in our previous paper. It is suggested that the equilibrium phase‐separation temperature could be hardly established by the linear extrapolating to zero in the plotting of cloud points versus heating rates. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 1547–1555, 2006     

Polymerization behavior of 2,5‐bis(dicyanomethylene)‐ 2,5‐dihydrofuran

2,5‐Bis(dicyanomethylene)‐2,5‐dihydrofuran (TCNF) is not homopolymerizable with any initiators, but copolymerizable with styrene (St) in an alternating fashion. Reactivity of TCNF was compared with that of 2,5‐bis(dicyanomethylene)‐2,5‐dihydrothiophene (TCNT) on the basis of the terpolymerization of the TCNT‐TCNF‐St system and the rates of addition reactions of AIBN with TCNT and with TCNF. TCNF was found to be lower in reactivity than TCNT. The relative reactivity was explained with the energy difference between quinonoid structure and benzenoid one. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 1285–1292, 1999     

Miscibility of polysulfone blends with poly(1‐vinylpyrrolidone‐co‐styrene) copolymers and their interaction energies

The miscibility of polysulfone (PSf) with various hydrophilic copolymers was explored. Among these blends, PSf gave homogeneous mixtures with poly(1‐vinylpyrrolidone‐co‐styrene) [P(VP–S)] copolymers when these copolymers contained 68–88 wt % 1‐vinylpyrrolidone (VP). Miscible PSf blends with P(VP–S) copolymers underwent phase separation on heating caused by lower critical solution temperature (LCST)‐type phase behavior. The phase behavior depended on the copolymer composition. Changes in the VP content of P(VP–S) copolymers from 65 to 68 wt % shifted the phase behavior from immiscibility to miscibility and the LCST behavior. The phase‐separation temperatures of the miscible blends first increased gradually with the VP content, then went through a broad maximum centered at about 80 wt % VP, and finally decreased just before the limiting content of VP for miscibility with PSf. The interaction energies of binary pairs involved in PSf/P(VP–S) blends were evaluated from the phase‐separation temperatures of PSf/P(VP–S) blends with lattice‐fluid theory combined with a binary interaction model. The decrease in the contact angle between water and the membrane surface with increasing VP content in P(VP–S) copolymers indicated that the hydrophobic properties of PSf could be improved via blending with hydrophilic P(VP–S) copolymers. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 1401–1411, 2003     

Thermal characterization and solid‐state 13C‐NMR investigation of blends of poly(N‐phenyl‐2‐hydroxytrimethylene amine) and poly(N‐vinyl pyrrolidone)

The miscibility and thermal properties of poly(N‐phenyl‐2‐hydroxytrimethylene amine)/poly(N‐vinyl pyrrolidone) (PHA/PVP) blends were examined by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), high‐resolution solid‐state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). It was found that PHA is miscible with PVP, as shown by the existence of a single composition‐dependent glass transition temperature (T_g) in the whole composition range. The DSC results, together with the ¹³C crosspolarization (CP)/magic angle spinning (MAS)/high‐power dipolar decoupling (DD) spectra of the blends, revealed that there exist rather strong intermolecular interactions between PHA and PVP. The increase in hydrogen bonding and in T_g of the blends was found to broaden the line width of CH—OH carbon resonance of PHA. The measurement of the relaxation time showed that the PHA/PVP blends are homogeneous at least on the scale of 1–2 nm. The proton spin‐lattice relaxation in both the laboratory frame and the rotating frame were studied as a function of the blend composition, and it was found that blending did not appreciably affect the spectral densities of motion (sub‐T_g relaxation) in the mid‐MHz and mid‐KHz frequency ranges. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that PHA has rather good thermal stability, and the thermal stability of the blend can be further improved with increasing PVP content. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 37: 237–245, 1999     

Characterization of electron beam irradiation blends based on metallocene ethylene‐1‐octene copolymer

Binary blends using metallocene ethylene‐1‐octene copolymer as matrix were prepared and subjected to electron beam (EB) irradiation (50, 100, and 200 kGy). Gel content and melt flow index values indicated that the blends were crosslinking. Fourier transform infrared‐ATR spectroscopy was used to study the crosslinking and oxidative degradation of the blends via tertiary carbon and carboxyl group formation, respectively. Thermal and mechanical properties were studied showing that the crystallinity of both matrix and dispersed phase decreased with irradiation dose, and that the thermoplastic elastomers with good mechanical properties may be obtained by EB irradiation. Chain branching and scission were also detected at all irradiation doses, although at the highest doses (200 kGy) a crosslinking reaction was the most predominantly observed effect. The successive self‐nucleation annealing technique was used to determine the EB irradiation effects on crystallization of some blends in which crosslinking and chain branching take place, modifying the chain's structure and therefore crystalline regions in the matrix and the dispersed phase. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 2432–2440, 2007     

Transport and mechanical properties of blends of poly(ϵ‐caprolactone) and a modified montmorillonite‐ poly(ϵ‐caprolactone) nanocomposite

The structural characterization and transport properties of blends of a commercial high molecular weight poly(?‐caprolactone) with different amounts of a montmorillonite‐poly(?‐caprolactone) nanocomposite containing 30 wt % clay were studied. Two different vapors were used for the sorption and diffusion analysis—water as a hydrophilic permeant and dichloromethane as anorganic permeant—in the range of vapor activity between 0.2 and 0.8. The blends showed improved mechanical properties in terms of flexibility and drawability as compared with the starting nanocomposites. The permeability (P), calculated as the product of the sorption (S) and the zero‐concentration diffusion coefficient (D₀), showed a strong dependence on the clay content in the blends. It greatly decreased on increasing the montmorillonite content for both vapors. This behavior was largely dominated by the diffusion parameters. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 1118–1124, 2002