• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.121-128
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• 2002

A series of thermoplastic polymers and their blends were melt-processed with high intensity ultrasonic wave in an intensive mixer. For the effective transfer of ultrasonic energy, an experimental apparatus was specially designed so that polymer melt can directly contact with ultrasonic horn. It was observed that significant variations in the rheological properties of polymers occur due to the unique action of ultrasonic wave without any aid of chemical additives. It was also found that the direct sonication on immiscible polymer blends in melt state reduces the domain sizes considerably and stabilizes the phase morphology of the blends. The degree of compatibilization was strongly affected by viscosity ratio of the components and the morphology was stable after annealing in properly compatibilized blends. It is suggested that ultrasound assisted melt mixing can lead to in-situ copolymer formation between the components and consequently provide an effective route to compatibilize immiscible polymer blends.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.38-50
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• 2003

This paper describes recent advances in ultrasonic devulcanization technology and the in.Situ ultrasonic compatibilization of the blends of the immiscible polymers by making copolymers at the interfaus and their vicinities and our understanding of the mechanism of these processes.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.316-325
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• 2002

The deformation and coalescence behaviors of immiscible LDPE/PS blends (86.5/13.5 vol%) prepared by internal mixer were studied using rheometer and scanning electron microscope. The fine droplets coagulated at initial stage of mixing, and deformed fiber at large strain. The critical capillary number was calculated according to the empirical equation of De Bruijn and it was 0.95, the local capillary number was 3.867. The polymer blends were annealed at $200^{\circ}C$ for various time to investigate morphological change of polymer blends. The maximum size of droplet after annealing at $200^{\circ}C$ was found at ${\gamma}$=1798, and there was destruction of the morphology at 15 minutes of annealing time. The viscosity of matrix was critical to determine a coalescence of droplet.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.255-263
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• 1999

Blends of two thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers, HX2000 and Vectra A950, were prepared by melt blending. Effects of transesterification on these blends are investigated by comparing properties of the blends with and without the addition of an inhibitor, in terms of blend miscibility and rheology. Both the uninhibited and inhibited blends are found to be largely immiscible with very limited miscibility in HX2000-rich phase. No strong evidence indicates the occurrence of transesterification in the blends in the solid state. Dynamic rheological behaviour, such as shear storage modulus (G') and shear loss modulus (G") as a function of frequency, of the blends are interpreted by a three-zone model. HX2000 shows terminal-zone and plateau-zone behaviour, whilst Vectra A950 shows plateau-zone and transition-zone behaviour. The un- inhibited blends show plateau-zone behaviour up to 50% Vectra A950 content and the inhibited blends show plateau-zone behaviour up to 60% Vectra A950 content. Compositional dependence of the complex viscosities of the uninhibited and inhibited blends displayed positive deviations from additivity, which is a characteristic feature for the immiscible thermoplastic blends. When under steady shear, both the uninhibited and inhibited blends show shear thinning behaviour and their viscosities decrease monotonically with the addition of Vectra A950. Compositional dependence of the steady shear viscosities of the two sets of blends displayed negative deviations from additivity and the uninhibited blends were more viscous than the inhibited blends for the full composition range. Although limited agreement with the Cox-Merz rule is found for the inhibited blends, these two sets of blends, in general, do not follow the rule due to their liquid crystalline order and two-phase morphology. Despite being immiscible blends, transesterification, such as polymerization, in the blends might occur during the rheological characterization, supported by the facts that uninhibited blends show HX2000-dominant behaviour at lower Vectra A950 content and are more viscous than the inhibited blends. The addition of transesterification inhibitor in such blends is advised if only physical mixing is desired.ired.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.297-305
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• 2005

The compatibilizing effect of maleic anhydride (MA) in the immiscible blends of EVA22 (vinyl acetate content 22%)/ethylene-${\alpha}$-olefin copolymers with 1-butene (EtBC) and 1-octene (EtOC)) comonomers was studied. By adding 1, 2, and 3 phr of MA in the presence of dicumylperoxide, the morphology, tensile strength at break, and 100 and 300 % modulus of EVA22/EtBC and EVA22/EtOC blends were significantly enhanced. The melting point and crystallization point depression were observed upon the addition of MA. The changes in the ${\beta}$ transition and glass transition temperature of ethylene-${\alpha}$-olefin copolymers and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers, respectively, indicate that MA plays a role of compatibilizer for these immiscible blends. The TGA thermograms, measured from the blends with MA, show that thermal stability is slightly enhanced with MA, indicating that MA acts as a reinforcing agent either by grafting or crosslinking with other copolymers.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.189-196
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• 2001

The phase morphology is an important factor in the rheology of immiscible polymer blends. Through its size and shape, the interface between the two phases determines how the components and the interface itself will contribute to the global stresses. Rheological measurements have been used successfully in the past to probe the morphological changes in model blends, particularly for dilute systems. For more concentrated blends only a limited amount of systematic rheological data is available. Here, viscosities and first normal stress differences are presented for a system with nearly Newtonian components, the whole concentration range is covered. The constituent polymers are PDMS and PIB, their viscosity ratio can be changed by varying the temperature. The data reported here have been obtained at 287 K where the viscosities of the two components are identical. By means of relaxation experiments the measured stresses are decomposed into component and interfacial contributions. The concentration dependence is quite different for the two types of contribution. Except for the component contributions to the shear stresses there is no clear indication of the phase inversion. Plotting either the interfacial shear or normal stresses as a function of composition produces in some cases two maxima. The relaxation times of these stresses display a similar concentration dependence. Although the components have the same viscosity, the stress-component curves are not symmetrical with respect to the 50/50 blend. A slight elasticity of one of the components seems to be the cause of this effect. The data for the more concentrated blends at higher shear rates are associated with a fibrillar morphology.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.94-99
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• 2004

We have performed Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies on blends of poly(vinyl phenol) (PVPh) with poly(n-alkylene 2,6-naphthalates) containing alkylene units of different lengths. The results indicate that each poly(ethylene 2,6-naphthalate) (PEN) and poly(trimethylene 2,6-naphthalate) (PTN) blend with PVPh is immiscible or partially miscible, but blends of poly(butylene 2,6-naphthalate) (PBN) with PVPh are miscible over the whole range of compositions in the amorphous state. FTIR spectroscopic analysis confirmed that significant degree of intermolecular hydrogen bonding occurs between the PBN ester carbonyl groups and the PVPh hydroxyl groups. The large difference in the degree of mixing in these blend systems is described in terms of the effect that chain mobility has on the accessibility of the ester carbonyl functional groups toward the hydroxyl groups of PVPh, which in turn impacts the miscibility of these blends.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.111-121
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• 1996

The characteristic of silicone rubber can be seen from its resistance to both low and high temperature, whereas HNBR is resistant only in high temperature moderatly although it can be compounded to give good tensile properties, good oil resistance while silicone rubber severely lacks in these qualities. This study was initiated a balance of properties by blending HNBR and silicone rubber which is not considered for commercial blending; blends of HNBR with silicone rubber tend to show immiscible due to dissimilar nature of silicone and HNBR, the possibility of phase separation cannot be ruled out, in unfilled system after vulcanisation leading to premature failure. Attempt has been made to improve compatibility and minimise the layer seperation by the use of compatibilizer. Both filled and unfilled systems, in presence and absence of compatibilizer have been studied. Improvement in tensile properties of the blends or are observed as compared to the non-blended rubber. Different ratios of HNBR and silicone rubber are represented in this study. Blends of HNBR with silicone rubber were immiscible system. The tensile strength increased with filler loading.

• Carbon letters
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.117-124
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• 2014

Conductive polymer composites (CPCs) consist of a polymeric matrix and a conductive filler, for example, carbon black, carbon fibers, graphite or carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The critical amount of the electrically conductive filler necessary to build up a continuous conductive network, and accordingly, to make the material conductive; is referred to as the percolation threshold. From technical and economical viewpoints, it is desirable to decrease the conductive-filler percolation-threshold as much as possible. In this study, we investigated the effect of polymer/conductive-filler interactions, as well as the processing and morphological development of low-percolation-threshold (${\Phi}c$) conductive-polymer composites. The aim of the study was to produce conductive composites containing less multi-walled CNTs (MWCNTs) than required for pure polypropylene (PP) through two approaches: one using various mixing methods and the other using immiscible polymer blends. Variants of the conductive PP composite filled with MWCNT was prepared by dry mixing, melt mixing, mechanofusion, and compression molding. The percolation threshold (${\Phi}c$) of the MWCNT-PP composites was most successfully lowered using the mechanofusion process than with any other mixing method (2-5 wt%). The mechanofusion process was found to enhance formation of a percolation network structure, and to ensure a more uniform state of dispersion in the CPCs. The immiscible-polymer blends were prepared by melt mixing (internal mixer) poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF, PP/PVDF, volume ratio 1:1) filled with MWCNT.

• The Korean Journal of Rheology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.81-87
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• 1997

비상용성 고분자는 그 계면의 특성에 의해서 복잡한 유변학적 거동을 갖는데 그러 한 거동을 해석하기 위해서 최근에 제안된 구성방정식을 토대로 소폭 진동 전단 흐름장에서 의 유변학적 물성과 몰폴로지 전개를 예측한 바 있다. Takahashi[2]등은 이런 흐름하에서의 계면은 거의 변하지 않음을 보여주었고 따라서 이경우는 상대적으로 쉬운편이었다. 본연구 에서는 정상전단흐름장하에서의 몰폴로지 전개에 대한 구성방정식을 간단한 형태로 표현함 으로써 실제 산업계에서 이용될수 있도록 하였다. 그러한 해석을 통하여 원래의 모델에서 제시되었던 3개의 실험변수를 2개로 줄일수 있었으며 계면의 특성을 잘 나타내 주는 새로운 변수($textsc{k}$)를 도입하였다. 계면의 특성을 잘 나타내 주는 이새로운 변수를 통하여 그 계면의 영향을 예측할수 있었다. 한편 분산상의 파괴, 변형, 합체 메카니즘을 모델에 제시되었던 변 수값들을 통하여 해석하였고 이를 실험적인 데이터와 비교해 보았다.