Effect of tacticity on the phase behavior and demixing of p alpha MSAN/dPMMA blends investigated by SANS
File(s)Aoki_et_al_PMMA_PAMSAN__syndio_accepted.pdf (4.8 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We investigate the effect of polymer tacticity on the phase behavior and phase separation of polymer mixtures by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). Poly(α-methyl styrene-co-acrylonitrile) (PαMSAN) and deuterated poly(methyl methacrylate) (dPMMA) with two degrees of syndiotacticity were selected as a model partially miscible blend, as one of the most highly interacting systems known (defined by the temperature dependence of the blend’s interaction parameter). One-phase (equilibrium) and time-resolved, spinodal demixing experiments were analyzed by de Gennes’ random phase approximation (RPA) and Cahn–Hilliard–Cook (CHC) theory, respectively. The second derivative of the Gibbs free energy of mixing with respect to composition (G″ ≡ ∂2ΔGm/∂ϕ2) and corresponding χ parameter were obtained from both RPA and CHC analysis and found to correlate well across the phase boundary. We find that blends with higher PMMA syndiotacticity exhibit greater miscibility and a steeper G″ temperature dependence by ∼40%. The segment length of dPMMA with higher syndiotacticity was found to be a = 7.4 Å, slightly larger than 6.9 Å reported for lower syndiotacticity dPMMA. Consideration of thermal fluctuations is required for the self-consistent analysis of the nontrivial evolution of the spinodal peak position q* over time, corroborated by CHC model calculations. The temperature dependence of the mobility parameter, M, can be described by a “fast-mode” average of the diffusion coefficients of the blend constituents, except for quenches originating near the glass transition. A minimum demixing length scale of Λ ≈ 40 nm is obtained, in agreement with the theory for deeper quenches, but deviates at shallower quenches, whose origin we discuss. CHC correctly describes demixing length and time scales, except for quenches into the vicinity of the spinodal boundary. Our data demonstrate the significant effect of relatively minor polymer microstructure variations on polymer blend behavior across both sides of the phase boundary.
Date Issued
2020-01-14
Date Acceptance
2020-01-01
Citation
Macromolecules, 2020, 53 (1), pp.445-457
ISSN
0024-9297
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Start Page
445
End Page
457
Journal / Book Title
Macromolecules
Volume
53
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 2020 American Chemical Society. This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Macromolecules, after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.9b02115
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000507721500047&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Polymer Science
ANGLE NEUTRON-SCATTERING
GLASS-TRANSITION TEMPERATURE
POLY(METHYL METHACRYLATE)
SPINODAL DECOMPOSITION
POLYMER BLENDS
POLY(VINYL CHLORIDE)
POLYBUTADIENE BLENDS
NONUNIFORM SYSTEM
INITIAL-STAGES
FREE-ENERGY
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2020-01-03