| Abstract: | The effect of simple shear flow on the phase behavior and morphology was investigated for both polystyrene/poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PS/PVME) and poly(methyl methacrylate)/poly(styrene‐co‐acrylonitrile) (PMMA /SAN‐29.5) blends, which have LCST (lower critical solution temperature)‐type phase diagram. The measurements were carried out using a special shear apparatus of two parallel glass plates type. The PS/PVME blends showed shear‐induced demixing and shear‐induced mixing at low and high shear rate values, respectively. In addition, the rotation speed and the sample thickness were found to have a pronounced effect on the phase behavior under shear flow. On the‐other hand, PMMA/SAN blend showed only shear‐induced mixing and the magnitudes of the elevation of the cloud points were found to be composition and molecular weight dependent. The morphology of the PMMA/SAN=75/25 blend indicated that shear‐induced mixing occurred at a critical shear rate value, below which the two phases were highly oriented and elongated in the flow direction. |
