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Shear-induced crystallization behavior was studied using a phase-separated blend comprising a polypropylene continuous phase and a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) dispersion, which is known to show strain hardening in transient elongation viscosity. In this study, crystallization behavior was mainly evaluated by the light intensity transmitted through a transparent parallel-plate geometry. It was found that shear-induced crystallization was greatly accelerated by the addition of LDPE, resulting in a high crystallization temperature and a highly oriented structure. When the sample was cooled slowly, however, shear-induced crystallization was not accelerated by LDPE. Furthermore, extrusion was performed using a capillary rheometer. The molecular orientation in the strands collected after cooling in the air was found to be enhanced by the LDPE addition, suggesting that flow-induced crystallization was accelerated even at capillary extrusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rheological properties and processability at injection molding were studied for bisphenol-A polycarbonate (PC) that was modified by low-density polyethylene (LDPE) having a low shear viscosity. The LDPE addition significantly decreased the steady-state shear viscosity, especially in the high shear rate region. The decrease did not originate from slippage on the die wall but due to interfacial slippage between the PC and dispersed LDPE droplets that deformed to the flow direction to a great extent. As a result of the viscosity decrease, injection pressure largely decreased from 150 to 110 MPa with the addition only 5 wt.% of LDPE. The enhanced flowability also reduced the warpage of the molded product significantly, demonstrating that the processability at injection molding was improved by the addition of LDPE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to shear flow produced by a pressure‐driven capillary rheometer provides a concentration gradient without phase separation in miscible polymer blends of bisphenol‐A polycarbonate containing low‐molecular‐weight poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). The strand surface extruded from the rheometer contains a large amount of PMMA. However, the strand is transparent because there is no light scattering due to phase separation. The segregation behavior, that is, enrichment of the PMMA content at the strand surface, is enhanced when the molecular weight of PMMA is low. Furthermore, the segregation is also enhanced at high temperatures and at high shear rates. By contrast, the die length barely affects the degree of segregation. The segregation phenomenon should be noted because it may facilitate the modification of the surface properties of various products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Miscible blends composed of bisphenol-A polycarbonate (PC) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), in which one of them has low molecular weight, were employed to study the surface segregation behavior during flow. The blend samples showed typical rheological behaviors, such as simple polymer melts without a long-time relaxation mechanism ascribed to phase separation, demonstrating that they were miscible. After injection molding, the amounts of a low molecular weight component on the blend surface were found to be larger than the actual blend ratio. Because the injection-molded products were transparent despite a huge difference in refractive indices between PC and PMMA, they showed no phase separation. This result demonstrated that surface segregation of a low molecular weight component occurred under flow field, which expands the material design such as tough plastics with good scratch resistance and optical fibers with tapered refractive index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of pressure and shear rate on the miscibility of binary blends comprising bisphenol-A polycarbonate (PC) and low molecular weight poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) were investigated using a capillary rheometer. Both pressure and shear rate affected the miscibility. The examination of an extruded strand of the blend provided information about the cause of the phase change. Under high pressure, pressure-induced demixing occurred at temperatures below the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the blend. Consequently, the extruded strand became opaque throughout. During shear-induced mixing/demixing, a part of the strand became opaque because of the distribution of the shear rate in the strand. For example, during shear-induced demixing, only the exterior of the strand, i.e., the high shear rate region, became opaque. Above the LCST, shear-induced mixing occurred, and only the center region of the strand became opaque. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT We investigated the light transmittance of an immiscible polymer blend comprising a copolymer of ethylene and vinyl acetate (EVA) and a terpolymer of vinyl butyral, vinyl alcohol, and vinyl acetate (PVB). Both EVA and PVB are used in the interlayers of laminated glass. We found that the transparency of the blend depends on the ambient temperature. This can be attributed to the difference in the temperature dependence of the refractive index between EVA and PVB. The blend has good transparency at room temperature because the difference between the refractive indices of its components is minimal. At high or low temperatures, however, the blend becomes opaque owing to light scattering. The addition of a plasticizer favorably affects the temperature range over which the blend exhibits high transparency, because the refractive index and its temperature dependence are affected by the plasticizer. We also evaluated the interphase transfer of a plasticizer between EVA and PVB at various temperatures. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018, 135, 45927. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The localization of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in immiscible polymer blends composed of polycarbonate (PC) and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is studied. Although partial miscibility is confirmed for the blend, presumably owing to the transesterification reaction, the MWCNT addition is found to have no influence on the miscibility. Moreover, morphological investigation and solvent extraction experiments reveal that MWCNTs are preferentially localized in PET phase. Thermal behavior demonstrates that MWCNTs act as an effective nucleating agent for PET, leading to the increment in crystallization temperature and crystallinity of PET. Tensile properties of PC/PET blends, i.e., Young's modulus, yield strength, and ultimate strength, are significantly improved by the addition of MWCNTs. POLYM. COMPOS., 38:1103-1111, 2017. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An extruded sheet having unique molecular orientation is developed using a miscible blend of isotactic polypropylene (PP) and isotactic polybutene-1 (PB). Blends containing a small amount of N, N′-dicyclohexyl-2,6-naphthalenedicarboxamide are extruded from a ribbon-shaped die onto a chill roll at various temperatures. It is found that form-I crystals of PB become oriented in the flow direction, whereas β-form crystals of PP become oriented perpendicular to the flow direction. The molecular orientation is the most obvious for the blend containing 60 wt% of PB extruded at a chill roll temperature of 80 °C. The anisotropy in the tensile modulus of the obtained extruded sheet is reduced by its extraordinary molecular orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Transparency and its temperature dependence were studied for rubber-toughened polymer blends composed of poly(methyl methacrylate), core-shell latex-rubber particles, and plasticizers such as tricresyl phosphate and di(2-ethylhexyl)adipate. The transparency of the blends was found to be improved by the addition of the plasticizers. This phenomenon is attributed to the uneven distribution of the plasticizer in the blends. Furthermore, it was found that the plasticizers improve the transparency in a wide temperature range, because the plasticizer addition reduces the difference in the thermal expansion, and thus the temperature dependence of the refractive index, between poly(methyl methacrylate) and the rubber phases. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40775. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morphology development of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) caused by applied flow history in molten isotactic polypropylene (PP) is investigated, employing a cone-and- plate rheometer and a capillary rheometer as mixing devices. Since the flow history is applied at 190 °C, PTFE is in the solid state whereas PP is in the molten state. It is found that primary PTFE particles tend to be agglomerated together by mechanical interlocking. Then they are fragmented into fibers by hydrodynamic force with reorganization process of crystalline phase. The diameter of the fragmented fibers is the same as that of the original ellipsoidal particles. Further, fine fibers whose diameter is in the range from 50 to 100 nm are also generated by yielding behavior of the particles. The prolonged shearing leads to a large number of fibers, although the diameter and length are hardly affected by the exposure time of shearing and shear stress. Moreover, the flow type (i.e., drag or pressure flow) does not affect the morphology to a great extent, although the drag flow is not efficient to reduce large agglom- erated particles. The fibers form an interdigitated network structure, which is responsible for the marked melt elasticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new technique to show good electroconductivity was proposed using carbon nanotube (CNT) localization in cocontinuous immiscible polymer blends comprising ultrahigh‐molecular‐weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and polycarbonate (PC). When UHMWPE was added to PC/CNT in the molten state in an internal mixer, CNTs started moving to the UHMWPE phase. However, CNTs require a long time to diffuse into the UHMWPE phase owing to a low diffusion constant. Consequently, they remain at the interface between PC and UHMWPE. When the blends have cocontinuous structure, the localized CNTs at the phase boundary act as a conductive path, leading to a good electroconductivity. Although a similar morphology is obtained by adjusting the balance of interfacial tensions among polymers and CNT, it is difficult to find a system showing appropriate interfacial tensions. As the present method is applicable to various polymer blends, it will be an important technique to prepare a conductive nanocomposite. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 137, 48676. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shear-induced crystallization of polypropylene (PP) in immiscible blends with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) was studied using three types of PMMA samples with different molecular weights. The addition of low-molecular-weight PMMA greatly enhanced the shear-induced crystallization of PP. Because the low-molecular-weight PMMA had low viscosity at high temperatures, the PMMA droplets dispersed in the PP were deformed in the flow direction and subsequently turned fibrous. As the temperature decreased, the viscosity of PMMA increased greatly prior to PP crystallization. Consequently, the deformed PMMA dispersions were hardly deformed further in the molten PP. It provided excess stress for PP in the flow direction, leading to a large Rouse-Weissenberg number. They thereby accelerated shear-induced crystallization of the PP. Because of the pronounced shear-induced crystallization, the orientation of the PP chains, which causes high rigidity, was greatly enhanced. [Display omitted] • PMMA with low molecular weight promoted shear-induced crystallization of PP. • Deformed PMMA droplets solidified during cooling and acted as rigid fibers. • Because of pronounced shear-induced crystallization, PP orientation was enhanced. • PMMA with high molecular weight barely affected shear-induced crystallization of PP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We controlled the optical anisotropy of a solution-cast film composed of cellulose triacetate (CTA) by adding ferrocene. Owing to the molecular orientation in the film plane of solution-cast films, which results from the normal stress applied during the solvent evaporation process, the average refractive index is usually higher in the plane of the film than in the thickness direction. We found that the addition of ferrocene, which is miscible with CTA, reduced the optical anisotropy by nematic interaction; i.e., ferrocene molecules are forcibly embedded into the film plane accompanying the CTA chains. Because the direction of anisotropic polarizability of ferrocene is perpendicular to the long axis of the molecule, the refractive index in the thickness direction is reduced. Furthermore, the stress-optical coefficient in the glassy state is reduced by the addition of ferrocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A methodology for controlling the localization of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was studied using an immiscible polymer blend composed of isotactic polypropylene (PP) and ethylene- co -propylene rubber (EPR). We found that the MWCNTs were localized in EPR domains within the composite, which was prepared at 280 °C. EPR molecules bonded to the MWCNT surface are responsible for the localization in EPR. Conversely, MWCNTs preferentially resided in the matrix when the composite was prepared at 190 °C along with nitrogen gas purging. Because of the selective localization of the MWCNTs in the matrix, the composite obtained via mixing at the lower temperature exhibited a higher Young's modulus and yield strength. These findings demonstrate that mixing conditions greatly affect the MWCNT distribution and thus the mechanical properties of PP/EPR blends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the structure and properties of binary blends comprising poly(lactic acid) (PLA) as a matrix and ethylene–vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA), by considering the effect of the vinyl acetate (VAc) content in EVA. The interfacial tension with PLA was found to decrease with increasing the VAc content. Therefore, blends comprising EVA with a high VAc content have fine EVA particles, and exhibit marked mechanical toughness and good transparency. Although pure PLA is prone to brittle fractures, the addition of EVA leads to shear yielding, which is prominent when the matrix ligament thickness is shorter than a critical value. The cavitation process in the dispersed EVA particles is also responsible for the mechanical toughness, which is obvious in EVA with a high VAc content. • EVA addition improves mechanical toughness of PLA greatly. • Massive shear yielding and cavitation are responsible for the improvement. • EVA with a high VAc content shows a marked modification performance. • Fine morphology is detected in the blends with EVA having a high VAc content. • The blend shows good transparency due to refractive index matching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The shear viscosity of binary blends comprising polycarbonate (PC) and low-molecular-weight polystyrene (L-PS) was examined. It was found that the viscosity of PC significantly decreases by the addition of L-PS. Although the dynamic mechanical properties indicated that L-PS is immiscible with PC, the morphology observation of the extruded strand clarified that shear-induced phase-mixing occurs. Furthermore, the viscosity decrease was found to be pronounced in the high shear stress condition, which is much more obvious than that by the addition of low-molecular-weight PC. Consequently, the addition of L-PS improves the flowability at injection-molding greatly. Graphical abstract Image 10992 Highlights • A blend of polycarbonate and polystyrene shows flow-induced phase-mixing. • Addition of polystyrene greatly decreases the shear viscosity of polycarbonate. • Because of the viscosity drop, the blend shows high flowability at injection-molding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A contradict interphase transfer of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) is detected in the immiscible polymer pair of polyethylene (PE) and polycarbonate (PC). When laminated sheets composed of PE with MWCNTs and PC are annealed in the molten state of both polymers, MWCNTs are found to move from PE to PC. This transfer phenomenon is originated from the difference in the interfacial tension with the aid of Brownian motion. On the contrary, MWCNTs prefer to reside in the PE phase in the blend of PE, PC and MWCNTs, even when MWCNTs are first dispersed in PC. This result indicates that MWCNTs transfer from PC to PE. The opposite direction of the transfer is attributed to the PE molecules being adsorbed on the surface of MWCNTs, which are generated during mixing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Optical properties for immiscible polymer blends composed of poly(methyl methacrylate), PMMA, and ethylene–vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) are studied employing various EVA samples with different vinyl acetate contents. PMMA/EVA shows transparency at room temperature when the difference in refractive index between both phases is small. The light transmittance, however, decreases with increasing the ambient temperature. This phenomenon is attributed to the difference in the volume expansion ratio, leading to the difference in refractive index, between PMMA and EVA. It is found that addition of tricresyl phosphate, TCP, improves the transparency and its temperature dependence. As a result, a ternary PMMA/EVA/TCP blend shows high level of transparency in the wide temperature range, although it has apparent phase separated morphology. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]