Miscibility of Ternary Polymer Blends in the Melt
Abstract
The phase diagram of a ternary system involving poly(propylene glycol), acrylic copolymer, and aliphatic polyesters has been established. This study focuses on the influence of polyester structure on polymer-polymer interactions, melt miscibility and the resultant morphology of the cooled blends. It has been shown that relatively small changes in the structure of the polyester cause significant changes in the phase equilibria. Poly(hexamethylene adipate) (HMA) and poly(hexamethylene sebacate) (HMS) have been examined. Changing the number of CH2 units in the polyester chain has a dramatic effect on the miscibility of the ternary blends. The HMA ternary system displays a large miscible region, while the HMS system is largely de-mixed. The longer aliphatic chain promotes polyester-polyether miscibility but causes the system to de-mix in the presence of the acrylic polymer. The boundary of the asymmetric miscible region is sensitive to temperature. Binary interaction parameters have been measured allowing the mixing thermodynamics to be modeled.
- Publication:
-
APS March Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- March 2002
- Bibcode:
- 2002APS..MARM33064D