Unified explanation of the anomalous dynamic properties of highly asymmetric polymer blends.

In polymer blends where the glass transition temperatures of the two components differ greatly, the segmental α-relaxation and the chain dynamics of the faster component exhibit a number of anomalous properties not seen before in homopolymers, and not explainable by conventional theory of polymer dynamics. In the first part of this paper, these anomalous properties are collected altogether and made known. We show their interconnections and emphasize the necessity of explaining all of them together if the objective is to fully solve the problem. In the second part, the predictions from a single theoretical framework, namely, the coupling model, are applied to explain the anomalous properties in toto.