Macromolecules, Vol.39, No.14, 4907-4913, 2006
Effects of polyester-poor phase microstructures on viscosity development of polymer blends
The viscosity development associated with the microstructure of various crystallizable polymer blends has been investigated. All binary blends, consisting of crystallizable polyester and noncrystallizable polyether, exhibit liquid/liquid phase-separated structures with polyester-rich and polyester-poor phases. The dispersed domains-continuous matrix morphology was observed in blends with 10-40 wt% polyester, while the 50 wt% polyester blend exhibits bicontinuous morphology. Differential scanning calorimetry and optical microscopy were employed to characterize crystallization features of each phase. "Curve-leaf"-shaped crystallites were formed in the polyester-poor phase in all blends studied. The viscoelastic physical gelation of the phase-separated blends with low polyester content of 10-40 wt% was found to be dominated by crystallization in the polyester-poor phase. The unusually high viscosity of the polyester-poor phase is due to the percolated morphology of "curved leaf"-shaped crystallites.