The morphology of quenched and compression molded samples of poly(lactic acid)/polycaprolactone (PLA/PCL) blend prepared by melt mixing was carefully characterized by the method reflecting eventual nonuniformity of the blend structure and/or broad particle size distribution. Determined number and volume average droplet radii for quenched samples were compared with theory, assuming that flow field in a mixing chamber can be substituted by the shear flow with effective shear rate. An increase in droplet radii during compression molding was compared with theory of the coalescence in quiescent state. Using the concept of effective shear flow to describe mixing leads to a strong disagreement between theory and experiment for the critical droplet radius of its breakup, and for the coalescence efficiency. The theory of coalescence in quiescent state provides fair description of an increase in the number average droplet radius during compression molding, but totally fails at prediction of an increase in the volume average droplet radius.
The effect of mixing conditions on the morphology, molten-state viscoelastic properties, and tensile impact strength of polystyrene/polyethylene (80/20) blends compatibilized with styrene-butadiene block copolymers containing various numbers and lengths of blocks was studied. Under all mixing conditions, an admixture of a styrenebutadiene block copolymer led to a finer phase structure and to an increase in the dynamic viscosity, storage modulus, and tensile impact strength. The effects were stronger for S-B diblock with a short styrene block than for S-B-S-B-S pentablock with long styrene blocks (where S represents styrene and B represents butadiene). For all blends mixed longer than 2 min, the mixing time had only a small effect on their morphology and properties. Surprisingly, the localization of S-B diblock copolymers was strongly dependent on the rate of mixing. The mixing rate had a nonnegligible effect on the viscoelastic properties of the compatibilized blends.
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