Macromolecules, Vol.27, No.25, 7397-7401, 1994
Viscoelastic Properties of Homogeneous Polymer Blends in the Terminal Region
Viscoelastic properties of homogeneous polystyrene/poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PS/PVME) blends were studied in terms of the zero-shear viscosity eta(0) and the steady-state compliance J(e). The molecular weight and composition of PS (M(PS) and phi(PS)) were varied, whereas the molecular weight of PVME (M(PVME)) was fixed, maintaining the condition M(PS) >> M(PVME). The behavior of eta(0) and J(e) was discussed as a function of M(PS) and phi(PS). In the entangled region, eta(0) Can be explained by the scaling law, in-the same way as in the semidilute polymer solutions, if phi(PS) < 0.25. The magnitudes of J(e) and its M(PS) and phi(PS) dependences are comparable to those of polymer solutions in the nonentangled region. Therefore, it is concluded that the viscoelastic properties of homogeneous PS/PVME blends in the terminal region studied here are very similar to those of the polymer solutions if M(PS) >> M(PVME).
Keywords:POLYVINYL METHYL-ETHER) SOLUTIONS;UNIVERSAL SCALING EQUATION;12-ARM STAR POLYSTYRENES;TRANSLATIONAL DIFFUSION;SEMIDILUTE SOLUTIONS;NEUTRON-SCATTERING;BINARY BLENDS;WIDE-RANGE;DYNAMICS;DILUTE