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Interfacial Properties of Isotropic Semi-Flexible Polymer Blends

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

Andrea J. Liu
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Glenn H. Fredrickson
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106
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Abstract

We analyze interfacial behavior in binary blends of polymers with different flexibilities. Our starting point is a free energy functional calculated from a microscopic model of wormlike chains. We show how this functional can be used to calculate interfacial properties within the Cahn-Hilliard approach. Here we present preliminary results applicable to chains that are globally coil-like. At the interface between two isotropic phases, each rich in a different polymer, we find that the polymers tend to be extended parallel to the interface. Thus their shape is oblate rather than spherical at the interface.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1993

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