Immiscible polymer blends are an important family of polymer materials.The interfacial thickness between different phases is a very important parameter that dictates,to a great extent,the morphology and properties of ...Immiscible polymer blends are an important family of polymer materials.The interfacial thickness between different phases is a very important parameter that dictates,to a great extent,the morphology and properties of such a blend.This work explores and optimizes an up-to-date atomic force microscopy(AFM)of type NanoIR2^(TM) system in order to quantitatively measure the interfacial thickness of immiscible polymer blends.This system is equipped with two nano-probes capable of detecting the response of a material to an infrared pulse called AFM-infrared spectroscopy mode(AFM-IR)or conducting resonance called AFM-Lorentz Contact Resonance mode(AFM-LCR),respectively.Its potential for quantitatively measuring the interfacial thickness of immiscible polymer blends is evaluated using blends composed of polyamide 6(PA6)and polyolefin elastomer(POE)in the presence or absence of a POE containing maleic anhydride(POE-g-MAH)as a compatibilizer.Surface roughness affects adversely the signal intensity and consequently an accurate measurement of the interfacial thickness.Optimum sample surface preparation procedures are proposed.展开更多
Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and poly(butylene succinate-co-24 mol% hexamethylene succinate) (PBHS), both crystalline polymers, formed melt-miscible crystalline/crystalline polymer blends. Both the charact...Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and poly(butylene succinate-co-24 mol% hexamethylene succinate) (PBHS), both crystalline polymers, formed melt-miscible crystalline/crystalline polymer blends. Both the characteristic diffraction peaks and nonisothermal melt crystallization peak of each component were found in the blends, indicating that PVDF and PBHS crystallized separately. The crystalline morphology and crystallization kinetics of each component were studied under different crystallization conditions for the PVDF/PBHS blends. Both the spherulitic growth rates and overall isothermal melt crystallization rates of blended PVDF decreased with increasing the PBHS composition and were lower than those of neat PVDF, when the crystallization temperature was above the melting point of PBHS component. The crystallization mechanism of neat and blended PVDF remained unchanged, despite changes of blend composition and crystallization temperature. The crystallization kinetics and crystalline morphology of neat and blended PBHS were further studied, when the crystallization temperature was below the melting point of PBHS component. Relative to neat PBHS, the overall crystallization rates of the blended PBHS first increased and then decreased with increasing the PVDF content in the blends, indicating that the preexisting PVDF crystals may show different effects on the nucleation and crystal growth of PBHS component in the crystalline/crystalline polymer blends.展开更多
Various viscosity-composition curves of polymer blends are summarized in eight groups. To represent these curves. 'sub-cluster equations' are derived on the basis of so called 'sub-cluster theoryThe essent...Various viscosity-composition curves of polymer blends are summarized in eight groups. To represent these curves. 'sub-cluster equations' are derived on the basis of so called 'sub-cluster theoryThe essential concepts of sub-cluster theory and the derivation of those 'Sub-cluster equations' are briefly introduced.展开更多
The effect of silica nanoparticles on the morphology of (10/90 wt%) PDMS/PBD blends during the shear induced coalescence of droplets of the minor phase at low shear rate was investigated systematically in situ by us...The effect of silica nanoparticles on the morphology of (10/90 wt%) PDMS/PBD blends during the shear induced coalescence of droplets of the minor phase at low shear rate was investigated systematically in situ by using an optical shear technique. Two blending procedures were used: silica nanoparticles were introduced to the blends by pre-blending silica particles first in PDMS dispersed phase (procedure 1) or in PBD matrix phase (procedure 2). Bimodal or unimodal droplet size distributions were observed for the filled blends during coalescence, which depend not so much on the surface characteristics of silica but mainly on blending procedure. For pure (10/90 wt%) PDMS/PBD blend, the droplet size distribution exhibits bimodality during the early coalescence. When silica nanoparticles (hydrophobic and hydrophilic) were added to the blends with procedure l, bimodal droplet size distributions disappear and unimodal droplet size distributions can be maintained during coalescence; the shape of the different peaks is invariably Gaussian. Simultaneously, coalescence of the PDMS droplets was suppressed efficiently by the silica nanoparticles. It was proposed that with this blending procedure the nanoparticles should be mainly kinetically trapped at the interface or in the PDMS dispersed phase, which provides an efficient steric barrier against coalescence of the PDMS dispersed phase. However, bimodal droplet size distributions in the early stage of coalescence still occur when incorporating silica nanoparticles into the blends with procedure 2, and then coalescence of the PDMS droplets cannot be suppressed efficiently by the silica nanoparticles. It was proposed that with this blending protocol the nanoparticles should be mainly located in the PBD matrix phase, which leads to an inefficient steric barrier against coalescence of the PDMS dispersed phase; thus the morphology evolution in these filled blends is similar to that in pure blend and bimodal droplet size distributions can be observed during the early coalescence. These results imply that exploiting non-equilibrium processes by varying preparation protocol may provide an elegant route to regulate the temporal morphology of the filled blends during coalescence.展开更多
A fast coalescence mechanism is proposed to account for the wall effect on the formation of gradient morphology in phase separated polymer blends during quiescent annealing. The existence of solid wall with high polar...A fast coalescence mechanism is proposed to account for the wall effect on the formation of gradient morphology in phase separated polymer blends during quiescent annealing. The existence of solid wall with high polarity is believed to change the potential field around the dispersed particles near the wall. This additional potential interaction between the solid wall and the dispersed particles causes faster coalescence of the dispersed particles near the wall than in the bulk. The gradient phase morphology thus formed can be predicted by combining the wall-particle interaction and the touch-coalescence mechanism. The effect of interfacial tension on the gradient morphology is also discussed.展开更多
Silica rods with homogeneous(hydrophilic or hydrophobic)and amphiphilic surface properties were synthesized and their efficiencies in suppressing the flow-induced droplet coalescence of immiscible polyisobutylene(PIB)...Silica rods with homogeneous(hydrophilic or hydrophobic)and amphiphilic surface properties were synthesized and their efficiencies in suppressing the flow-induced droplet coalescence of immiscible polyisobutylene(PIB)/polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS)blends were evaluated via in situ visualization technique.The flow-induced coalescence behavior of blends was found to strongly depend on the surface nature and concentration of silica rods added as well as the blend ratio.While a trace amount of rods promoted coalescence,all kinds of rods demonstrated a morphology refinement effect at high rod concentrations.Good compatibilization effects were obtained at high rod concentrations,especially for hydrophilic and amphiphilic rods.Based on confocal laser scanning microscopy results,these phenomena observed were interpreted reasonably in terms of the selective distribution and aggregation of silica rods,which were suggested to be decisive for the stabilization mechanism and efficiency of these rods.展开更多
Series of PVC/ABS and PVC/SBS blends of composition 20/ 80. 40/ 60, 60 / 40 and 80 / 20were prepared in a screw extruder. The phase morphology, miscibility and rheological behaviour of two systems were investigated. T...Series of PVC/ABS and PVC/SBS blends of composition 20/ 80. 40/ 60, 60 / 40 and 80 / 20were prepared in a screw extruder. The phase morphology, miscibility and rheological behaviour of two systems were investigated. The viscosity-composition plots were represented by sub-cluster equation, the various differences between two systems are interpreted with the equation parameters展开更多
Compatibility of poly (vinyl acetate) (PVAc) with poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) mixtures has been studied by using nuclear magnetic relaxation, differential scanning calorimeter and small-angle X-ray scattering te...Compatibility of poly (vinyl acetate) (PVAc) with poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) mixtures has been studied by using nuclear magnetic relaxation, differential scanning calorimeter and small-angle X-ray scattering techniques. The nuclear magnetic relaxation time T_1's were measured as a function of composition in blends of PMMA and PVAc prepared from chloroform solution. The results show that the system is miscible for casting from chloroform solution.展开更多
Low cycle fatigue crack propagation (FCP) behavior of two PC/ABSblends with a weight ra- tio of PC to ABS being 80/20 and 60/40,respectively, is investigated. Experiments are carried out by usingstandard compact tensi...Low cycle fatigue crack propagation (FCP) behavior of two PC/ABSblends with a weight ra- tio of PC to ABS being 80/20 and 60/40,respectively, is investigated. Experiments are carried out by usingstandard compact tension (CT) specimens. The fracture surfaces areexamined with a scanning electron mi- croscope (SEM). It is shownthat the FCP resistance of PC/ABS blend with 20/100 ABS particles ishigher than that of PC/ABS blend with 40/100 ABS particles. It isfound that proper ABS particle content can result in the tougheningof PC/ABS blends through particle cavitation and shear yielding inmatrix.展开更多
A polymer blend comprising poly(3-hexylthiophene)(P3HT)donor and poly[2,7-(9,9′-octyl-fluorene)-alt-5,5-(4′,7′-di-2-thienyl-5′,6′-bis(hexyloxy)-2′,1′,3′-benzothiadiazole)](PFDTBT-OC6)acceptor is used as the ac...A polymer blend comprising poly(3-hexylthiophene)(P3HT)donor and poly[2,7-(9,9′-octyl-fluorene)-alt-5,5-(4′,7′-di-2-thienyl-5′,6′-bis(hexyloxy)-2′,1′,3′-benzothiadiazole)](PFDTBT-OC6)acceptor is used as the active layer to fabricate all-polymer solar cells.The blend morphology variance processed with pure and mixed solvents,and the related photovoltaic performance,are investigated in detail.It is found that,due to its low surface energy,a thin P3HT enrichment layer on the top surface of the active layer greatly increases bimolecular recombination and results in S-kinks of the illuminated current density-voltage curves.With the incorporation of p-xylene(a marginal solvent of P3HT)in the blend solution,the P3HT enrichment atop the active layer surface is effectively decreased because the high boiling-point p-xylene suppresses the diffusion of P3HT chains toward the top surface during the film-drying process.The bimolecular recombination was thus improved and the S-kinks of the photovoltaic curves were completely removed.The overall power conversion efficiencies of the devices are strongly boosted(from 0.88%to 1.41%)when chlorobenzene:p-xylene mixed solvent is used to replace pure chlorobenzene.展开更多
High-entropy polymer blends composed of polypropylene(PP),polystyrene(PS),polyamide 6(PA6),poly(lactic acid)(PLA),and styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene(SEBS)were successfully fabricated using maleic anhydride-grafted ...High-entropy polymer blends composed of polypropylene(PP),polystyrene(PS),polyamide 6(PA6),poly(lactic acid)(PLA),and styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene(SEBS)were successfully fabricated using maleic anhydride-grafted SEBS(SEBS-g-MAH)as a compatibilizer.Dynamic mechanical analysis(DMA),differential scanning calorimetry(DSC),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),and mechanical testing demonstrated that SEBS-g-MAH significantly enhanced the compatibility between the polar(PA6,PLA)and nonpolar(PP,PS,SEBS)components.The compatibilizer effectively refined the microstructure,substantially reduced the domain sizes,and blurred the phase boundaries,indicating enhanced interfacial interactions among all the components.The optimal compatibilizer content(15 wt%)notably increased tensile ductility(elongation at break from 5.0%to 23.7%)while maintaining balanced crystallization behavior,despite slightly decreasing modulus.This work not only demonstrates the broad applicability of high-entropy polymer blends as a sustainable strategy for converting complex,unsorted plastic waste into high-performance value-added materials that significantly contribute to plastic upcycling efforts,but also highlights intriguing physical phenomena emerging from such complex polymer systems.展开更多
Multi-component polymer systems exhibit exceptional versatility and structural diversity,making them indispensable in the polymer industry as well as in advanced and high performance applications.However,constructing ...Multi-component polymer systems exhibit exceptional versatility and structural diversity,making them indispensable in the polymer industry as well as in advanced and high performance applications.However,constructing accurate phase diagrams for these systems remains challenging due to inhomogeneous structures arising from the introduction of block copolymer components.Here,we present a unified and model-agnostic framework for computing phase equilibria in multi-component polymeric systems based on the concept of“effective chemical potential”.This approach directly connects key thermodynamic variables in the canonical ensemble to other ensembles,unifying phase coexistence determination without requiring the reformulation of self-consistent field theory(SCFT)calculations across different ensembles.By decoupling phase equilibrium determination from specific ensemble formulations,our approach enables the reuse of existing SCFT solvers.Moreover,it provides a useful framework to develop highly efficient phase equilibrium solvers for multi-component polymer systems.展开更多
The diffusion and subsequent copolymerization of styrene (St)/butyl methacrylate (BMA) mixed monomers in iPP pellets to prepare copolymer nanoblends were investigated. The diffusion step was carded out at 90 ℃ fo...The diffusion and subsequent copolymerization of styrene (St)/butyl methacrylate (BMA) mixed monomers in iPP pellets to prepare copolymer nanoblends were investigated. The diffusion step was carded out at 90 ℃ for 2 h in water, and the copolymerization was initiated by the addition of BPO with the aid of a small amount of St. The diametrical distributions of both St and BMA units and their ratio St/BMA were investigated by micro FTIR. Both St and BMA can diffuse into the centres of iPP pellets. The diametrical distribution of St/BMA ratio is constant in all the copolymer blends. The copolymer composition depends on the comonomer feed ratio. The molecular weights of the copolymers were measured by GPC after extraction with tetrahydrofuran. The phase morphology of the copolymer blends was investigated by FESEM, showing the average particle sizes of less than 100 nm. DSC measurements show that the diffusion and subsequent copolymerization of St/BMA monomers only occur in the amorphous regions of iPP pellets.展开更多
The performance and morphology stability of polymer bulk heterojunetion solar cells based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as the donor and indene-C6o bisadduct (ICBA) or methanofullerene [6,6]-phenyl C61-butyri...The performance and morphology stability of polymer bulk heterojunetion solar cells based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as the donor and indene-C6o bisadduct (ICBA) or methanofullerene [6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as the aeceptor are compared. Effect of the different donor and aeeeptor weight ratios on photo- voltaic performance of the P3HT:ICBA device is studied. The optimal device achieved power conversion emeiency of 5.51~o with dso of l0.86mA/cm2, Voc of 0.83 V, and fill factor (FF) of 61.1 % under AM 1.5G (lOOmW/cm2) simulated solar illumination. However, the stability measurement shows that cells based on P3HT:ICBA are less stable than those of the device based on P3HT:PCBM. Atomic force microscope results reveal that the morphol- ogy of the P3HT:ICBA film changed considerably during the storage periods due to unstable interpenetrating D-A network. This observation can be explained by the fact that there is lack of intermolecular hydrogen bonds in the P3HT:ICBA system. However, in the P3HT:PCBM system the molecules in the blend film are firmly held together in the solid state by means of intermoleeular hydrogen bonds originating from C-H. ~. Os bonds (where Os comes from the singly-bonded 0 atom of PCBM), forming a stable three-dimensional network. The measured PL decay lifetimes for P3HT:PCBM and P3HT:ICBA systems are 33.66 ns and 35.34 ns, respectively, indicating that the P3HT:ICBA system has a less efficient exciton separation eftleiency than that of P3HT:PCBM, which may result in the interracial photogenerated charges accumulated on the D: A interface. Such progressive phase segregation between P3HT and ICBA eventually leads to the degradation in performance and deteriorates the stability of the device. We also present an approach to enhance the stability of P3HT:ICBA systems by adding PCBM as the second acceptor. Our results show that by carefully tuning the contents of PCBM as the second acceptor, more stable polymer solar cells can be obtained.展开更多
Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites have been the subject of recent intense interest due to advances in photovoltaic and other optoelectronic applications. However, their poor stability limits commercial market appli...Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites have been the subject of recent intense interest due to advances in photovoltaic and other optoelectronic applications. However, their poor stability limits commercial market application We enhance water stability by post treatment preparation of hybrid metal halide perovskite nanocrystal-embedded polymethylmethacrylate (PM- MA) blend films. Through blending process without any cleaning of nanocrystals, crystalline hybrid organic-inorganic perovs-kite nanocrystals were incorporated into PMMA matrix with well-dispersion Passivation of PMMA on the surface of the per-ovskite nanocrystals results in decreased traps and a long photoluminescence (PL) lifetime despite the bromine vacancies in the crystal lattice. Moreover, such color purity and inherent high transmittance for fluorescence emission of perovskite nanocrystals will endow the films with promising potentials in diverse practice photonic applications.展开更多
Sustainable blends of poly(propylene carbonate)(PPC)and stereocomplex polylactide(sc-PLA)were prepared by melt blending equimolar poly(L-lactic acid)(PLLA)and poly(D-lactide acid)(PDLA)with PPC to form sc-PLA crystals...Sustainable blends of poly(propylene carbonate)(PPC)and stereocomplex polylactide(sc-PLA)were prepared by melt blending equimolar poly(L-lactic acid)(PLLA)and poly(D-lactide acid)(PDLA)with PPC to form sc-PLA crystals in situ in the melt blending process.Differential seanning calorimetry analysis revealed that only sc-PLA,no homo-crystallization of PLLA or PDLA,formed in the PPC matrix as the sc-PLA con tent was more than 10 wt%.Very in triguingly,scan ning electronic microscopy observati on showed that sc-PLA was evenly dispersed in the PPC phase as spherical particles and the sizes of sc-PLA particles did not obviously increase with in creasing sc-PLA con tent.As a con seque nee,the rheological properties of PPC were greatly improved by incorporation of sc-PLA.When the sc-PLA con tent was 20 wt%,a percolati on n etwork structure was formed,and the blends showed solid-like behavior.The sc-PLA particles could reinforce the PPC matrix,especially at a temperature above the glass transition temperature of PPC.Moreover,the Vicat softening temperature of PPC/sc-PLA blends could be increased compared with that of neat PPC.展开更多
In this work, polypropylene (PP)/polystyrene (PS) blends with different organoclay concentrations were prepared via melt compounding. Differing from the results of previous reports, the organoclay platelets are mostly...In this work, polypropylene (PP)/polystyrene (PS) blends with different organoclay concentrations were prepared via melt compounding. Differing from the results of previous reports, the organoclay platelets are mostly located in the dispersed PS phase instead of the interface. The dimensions of the dispersed PS droplets are greatly reduced and apparent compatibilization effect still exists, which cannot be explained by the traditional compatibilization mechanism. A novel compatibilization mecha- nism, "cutting" to apparently compatibilize the immiscible PP/PS blends was proposed. The organoclay platelets tend to form a special "knife-like structure" in the PS domain under the shear stress of the continuous PP phase during compounding. The "clay knife" can split the dispersed PS domain apart and lead to the dramatic reduction of the dispersed domain size.展开更多
A series of polymer blends were prepared from 1,3-bis(3,4-dicyanophenoxy)benzene(3 BOCN) and epoxy resin with methyl tetrahydrophthalic anhydride as curing agent. The curing behavior and curing kinetics of the ble...A series of polymer blends were prepared from 1,3-bis(3,4-dicyanophenoxy)benzene(3 BOCN) and epoxy resin with methyl tetrahydrophthalic anhydride as curing agent. The curing behavior and curing kinetics of the blends were studied by differential scanning calorimetry. The apparent activation energy of the blends with various contents of 3 BOCN was higher than that of the blends without 3 BOCN. A model experiment suggested that there is no obvious reaction between phthalonitrile and epoxy. The thermal and mechanical properties of the polymer blends were evaluated. The polymer blends exhibit high storage modulus and char yield compared with the neat epoxy. The polymer blends show ductile fracture morphology by scanning electron microscopy(SEM) images.展开更多
Interfacial crystallization of polyoxymethylene/poly(butylene succinate)blends induced by the polyamide 6(PA6)fiber was investigated.Due to strong heterogeneous nucleating ability,dense nuclei were generated on the su...Interfacial crystallization of polyoxymethylene/poly(butylene succinate)blends induced by the polyamide 6(PA6)fiber was investigated.Due to strong heterogeneous nucleating ability,dense nuclei were generated on the surface of the PA6 fiber,which compelled the growth of twisted lamellae perpendicular to the PA6 fiber.As a result,unique interfacial banded transcrystallization was formed,which is rarely found before.Crystallization temperature was dominant in determining the nucleation activity of the PA6 fiber,further affecting the architecture of banded transcrystallization.With the increase of crystallization temperature,the nucleation density decreased to give more growth space for the twisted lamellae around the fiber.The wave-like banded stripes were transformed into fan-like stripes.Accordingly,band spacing and eccentricity respectively showed positive and negative correlation with crystallization temperature.These meaningful results shed light on regulating the architecture of banded crystals in polymer composites.展开更多
Evolution and fractal character of the phase morphology of high impact polystyrene/poly(cis-butadiene) rubber (HIPS/PcBR) blends during melting and mixing were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM...Evolution and fractal character of the phase morphology of high impact polystyrene/poly(cis-butadiene) rubber (HIPS/PcBR) blends during melting and mixing were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The characteristic length L was defined as the size of particles of the dispersed phase in blends. Different fractal dimensions, Df and Din, were introduced to study the distribution width of phase dimensions in the dimensionless region and the uniformity of the spatial distribution of particles, respectively. The results showed that the average characteristic length Lm and Df increase as the volume fraction of the dispersed phase increases, when the volume fraction of the dispersed phase is lower than 50%. In other words, the size of particles increases and their distribution in the dimensionless region becomes more uniform. Meanwhile, the uniformity of the spatial distribution becomes more perfect as the volume fraction increases. At a certain composition, Lm decreases in the initial stage of the mixing and levels off in the late stage. In the initial stage, Df becomes large rapidly with the process of blending, which means that the distribution of L in the dimensionless region becomes more uniform. Meanwhile, the spatial distribution tends to be ideal rapidly in the early stage and fluctuates in a definite range in the late stage of the mixing.展开更多
基金The authors thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.51973193)the State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering(No.SKL-ChE-13D)for their financial support.
文摘Immiscible polymer blends are an important family of polymer materials.The interfacial thickness between different phases is a very important parameter that dictates,to a great extent,the morphology and properties of such a blend.This work explores and optimizes an up-to-date atomic force microscopy(AFM)of type NanoIR2^(TM) system in order to quantitatively measure the interfacial thickness of immiscible polymer blends.This system is equipped with two nano-probes capable of detecting the response of a material to an infrared pulse called AFM-infrared spectroscopy mode(AFM-IR)or conducting resonance called AFM-Lorentz Contact Resonance mode(AFM-LCR),respectively.Its potential for quantitatively measuring the interfacial thickness of immiscible polymer blends is evaluated using blends composed of polyamide 6(PA6)and polyolefin elastomer(POE)in the presence or absence of a POE containing maleic anhydride(POE-g-MAH)as a compatibilizer.Surface roughness affects adversely the signal intensity and consequently an accurate measurement of the interfacial thickness.Optimum sample surface preparation procedures are proposed.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.51221002)
文摘Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and poly(butylene succinate-co-24 mol% hexamethylene succinate) (PBHS), both crystalline polymers, formed melt-miscible crystalline/crystalline polymer blends. Both the characteristic diffraction peaks and nonisothermal melt crystallization peak of each component were found in the blends, indicating that PVDF and PBHS crystallized separately. The crystalline morphology and crystallization kinetics of each component were studied under different crystallization conditions for the PVDF/PBHS blends. Both the spherulitic growth rates and overall isothermal melt crystallization rates of blended PVDF decreased with increasing the PBHS composition and were lower than those of neat PVDF, when the crystallization temperature was above the melting point of PBHS component. The crystallization mechanism of neat and blended PVDF remained unchanged, despite changes of blend composition and crystallization temperature. The crystallization kinetics and crystalline morphology of neat and blended PBHS were further studied, when the crystallization temperature was below the melting point of PBHS component. Relative to neat PBHS, the overall crystallization rates of the blended PBHS first increased and then decreased with increasing the PVDF content in the blends, indicating that the preexisting PVDF crystals may show different effects on the nucleation and crystal growth of PBHS component in the crystalline/crystalline polymer blends.
文摘Various viscosity-composition curves of polymer blends are summarized in eight groups. To represent these curves. 'sub-cluster equations' are derived on the basis of so called 'sub-cluster theoryThe essential concepts of sub-cluster theory and the derivation of those 'Sub-cluster equations' are briefly introduced.
基金financially supported by the National Basic Research Program of China(973 Program,2012CB821500)supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.21222407,21074137 and 50930001)
文摘The effect of silica nanoparticles on the morphology of (10/90 wt%) PDMS/PBD blends during the shear induced coalescence of droplets of the minor phase at low shear rate was investigated systematically in situ by using an optical shear technique. Two blending procedures were used: silica nanoparticles were introduced to the blends by pre-blending silica particles first in PDMS dispersed phase (procedure 1) or in PBD matrix phase (procedure 2). Bimodal or unimodal droplet size distributions were observed for the filled blends during coalescence, which depend not so much on the surface characteristics of silica but mainly on blending procedure. For pure (10/90 wt%) PDMS/PBD blend, the droplet size distribution exhibits bimodality during the early coalescence. When silica nanoparticles (hydrophobic and hydrophilic) were added to the blends with procedure l, bimodal droplet size distributions disappear and unimodal droplet size distributions can be maintained during coalescence; the shape of the different peaks is invariably Gaussian. Simultaneously, coalescence of the PDMS droplets was suppressed efficiently by the silica nanoparticles. It was proposed that with this blending procedure the nanoparticles should be mainly kinetically trapped at the interface or in the PDMS dispersed phase, which provides an efficient steric barrier against coalescence of the PDMS dispersed phase. However, bimodal droplet size distributions in the early stage of coalescence still occur when incorporating silica nanoparticles into the blends with procedure 2, and then coalescence of the PDMS droplets cannot be suppressed efficiently by the silica nanoparticles. It was proposed that with this blending protocol the nanoparticles should be mainly located in the PBD matrix phase, which leads to an inefficient steric barrier against coalescence of the PDMS dispersed phase; thus the morphology evolution in these filled blends is similar to that in pure blend and bimodal droplet size distributions can be observed during the early coalescence. These results imply that exploiting non-equilibrium processes by varying preparation protocol may provide an elegant route to regulate the temporal morphology of the filled blends during coalescence.
基金This work was supported by research grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and The Special Funds for Major State Basic Research Projects (G199906408).
文摘A fast coalescence mechanism is proposed to account for the wall effect on the formation of gradient morphology in phase separated polymer blends during quiescent annealing. The existence of solid wall with high polarity is believed to change the potential field around the dispersed particles near the wall. This additional potential interaction between the solid wall and the dispersed particles causes faster coalescence of the dispersed particles near the wall than in the bulk. The gradient phase morphology thus formed can be predicted by combining the wall-particle interaction and the touch-coalescence mechanism. The effect of interfacial tension on the gradient morphology is also discussed.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.51873111,51721091)the Scientific Research Foundation of Sichuan Province(No.2018HH0001)+1 种基金the Programme of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities(No.B13040)the Graduate Innovation Foundation of Sichuan University(No.2018YJSY088).
文摘Silica rods with homogeneous(hydrophilic or hydrophobic)and amphiphilic surface properties were synthesized and their efficiencies in suppressing the flow-induced droplet coalescence of immiscible polyisobutylene(PIB)/polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS)blends were evaluated via in situ visualization technique.The flow-induced coalescence behavior of blends was found to strongly depend on the surface nature and concentration of silica rods added as well as the blend ratio.While a trace amount of rods promoted coalescence,all kinds of rods demonstrated a morphology refinement effect at high rod concentrations.Good compatibilization effects were obtained at high rod concentrations,especially for hydrophilic and amphiphilic rods.Based on confocal laser scanning microscopy results,these phenomena observed were interpreted reasonably in terms of the selective distribution and aggregation of silica rods,which were suggested to be decisive for the stabilization mechanism and efficiency of these rods.
文摘Series of PVC/ABS and PVC/SBS blends of composition 20/ 80. 40/ 60, 60 / 40 and 80 / 20were prepared in a screw extruder. The phase morphology, miscibility and rheological behaviour of two systems were investigated. The viscosity-composition plots were represented by sub-cluster equation, the various differences between two systems are interpreted with the equation parameters
文摘Compatibility of poly (vinyl acetate) (PVAc) with poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) mixtures has been studied by using nuclear magnetic relaxation, differential scanning calorimeter and small-angle X-ray scattering techniques. The nuclear magnetic relaxation time T_1's were measured as a function of composition in blends of PMMA and PVAc prepared from chloroform solution. The results show that the system is miscible for casting from chloroform solution.
基金the Excellent Young Teachers Programthe Research Foundation for Doctoral Project of the Ministry of Education of China.
文摘Low cycle fatigue crack propagation (FCP) behavior of two PC/ABSblends with a weight ra- tio of PC to ABS being 80/20 and 60/40,respectively, is investigated. Experiments are carried out by usingstandard compact tension (CT) specimens. The fracture surfaces areexamined with a scanning electron mi- croscope (SEM). It is shownthat the FCP resistance of PC/ABS blend with 20/100 ABS particles ishigher than that of PC/ABS blend with 40/100 ABS particles. It isfound that proper ABS particle content can result in the tougheningof PC/ABS blends through particle cavitation and shear yielding inmatrix.
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China(2014CB643504)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(51325303,51273193,21334006)the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDB12030200)
文摘A polymer blend comprising poly(3-hexylthiophene)(P3HT)donor and poly[2,7-(9,9′-octyl-fluorene)-alt-5,5-(4′,7′-di-2-thienyl-5′,6′-bis(hexyloxy)-2′,1′,3′-benzothiadiazole)](PFDTBT-OC6)acceptor is used as the active layer to fabricate all-polymer solar cells.The blend morphology variance processed with pure and mixed solvents,and the related photovoltaic performance,are investigated in detail.It is found that,due to its low surface energy,a thin P3HT enrichment layer on the top surface of the active layer greatly increases bimolecular recombination and results in S-kinks of the illuminated current density-voltage curves.With the incorporation of p-xylene(a marginal solvent of P3HT)in the blend solution,the P3HT enrichment atop the active layer surface is effectively decreased because the high boiling-point p-xylene suppresses the diffusion of P3HT chains toward the top surface during the film-drying process.The bimolecular recombination was thus improved and the S-kinks of the photovoltaic curves were completely removed.The overall power conversion efficiencies of the devices are strongly boosted(from 0.88%to 1.41%)when chlorobenzene:p-xylene mixed solvent is used to replace pure chlorobenzene.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.52173017)the Project of Introducing Urgently Needed and Scarce Talents in Key Supported Regions of Shandong Province in 2024.
文摘High-entropy polymer blends composed of polypropylene(PP),polystyrene(PS),polyamide 6(PA6),poly(lactic acid)(PLA),and styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene(SEBS)were successfully fabricated using maleic anhydride-grafted SEBS(SEBS-g-MAH)as a compatibilizer.Dynamic mechanical analysis(DMA),differential scanning calorimetry(DSC),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),and mechanical testing demonstrated that SEBS-g-MAH significantly enhanced the compatibility between the polar(PA6,PLA)and nonpolar(PP,PS,SEBS)components.The compatibilizer effectively refined the microstructure,substantially reduced the domain sizes,and blurred the phase boundaries,indicating enhanced interfacial interactions among all the components.The optimal compatibilizer content(15 wt%)notably increased tensile ductility(elongation at break from 5.0%to 23.7%)while maintaining balanced crystallization behavior,despite slightly decreasing modulus.This work not only demonstrates the broad applicability of high-entropy polymer blends as a sustainable strategy for converting complex,unsorted plastic waste into high-performance value-added materials that significantly contribute to plastic upcycling efforts,but also highlights intriguing physical phenomena emerging from such complex polymer systems.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.21873021).
文摘Multi-component polymer systems exhibit exceptional versatility and structural diversity,making them indispensable in the polymer industry as well as in advanced and high performance applications.However,constructing accurate phase diagrams for these systems remains challenging due to inhomogeneous structures arising from the introduction of block copolymer components.Here,we present a unified and model-agnostic framework for computing phase equilibria in multi-component polymeric systems based on the concept of“effective chemical potential”.This approach directly connects key thermodynamic variables in the canonical ensemble to other ensembles,unifying phase coexistence determination without requiring the reformulation of self-consistent field theory(SCFT)calculations across different ensembles.By decoupling phase equilibrium determination from specific ensemble formulations,our approach enables the reuse of existing SCFT solvers.Moreover,it provides a useful framework to develop highly efficient phase equilibrium solvers for multi-component polymer systems.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.51173095)
文摘The diffusion and subsequent copolymerization of styrene (St)/butyl methacrylate (BMA) mixed monomers in iPP pellets to prepare copolymer nanoblends were investigated. The diffusion step was carded out at 90 ℃ for 2 h in water, and the copolymerization was initiated by the addition of BPO with the aid of a small amount of St. The diametrical distributions of both St and BMA units and their ratio St/BMA were investigated by micro FTIR. Both St and BMA can diffuse into the centres of iPP pellets. The diametrical distribution of St/BMA ratio is constant in all the copolymer blends. The copolymer composition depends on the comonomer feed ratio. The molecular weights of the copolymers were measured by GPC after extraction with tetrahydrofuran. The phase morphology of the copolymer blends was investigated by FESEM, showing the average particle sizes of less than 100 nm. DSC measurements show that the diffusion and subsequent copolymerization of St/BMA monomers only occur in the amorphous regions of iPP pellets.
基金Supported by the Tianjin Natural Science Foundation under Grant Nos 13JCYBJC18900 and 13JCZDJC26700the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China under Grant No 2013AA014201
文摘The performance and morphology stability of polymer bulk heterojunetion solar cells based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as the donor and indene-C6o bisadduct (ICBA) or methanofullerene [6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as the aeceptor are compared. Effect of the different donor and aeeeptor weight ratios on photo- voltaic performance of the P3HT:ICBA device is studied. The optimal device achieved power conversion emeiency of 5.51~o with dso of l0.86mA/cm2, Voc of 0.83 V, and fill factor (FF) of 61.1 % under AM 1.5G (lOOmW/cm2) simulated solar illumination. However, the stability measurement shows that cells based on P3HT:ICBA are less stable than those of the device based on P3HT:PCBM. Atomic force microscope results reveal that the morphol- ogy of the P3HT:ICBA film changed considerably during the storage periods due to unstable interpenetrating D-A network. This observation can be explained by the fact that there is lack of intermolecular hydrogen bonds in the P3HT:ICBA system. However, in the P3HT:PCBM system the molecules in the blend film are firmly held together in the solid state by means of intermoleeular hydrogen bonds originating from C-H. ~. Os bonds (where Os comes from the singly-bonded 0 atom of PCBM), forming a stable three-dimensional network. The measured PL decay lifetimes for P3HT:PCBM and P3HT:ICBA systems are 33.66 ns and 35.34 ns, respectively, indicating that the P3HT:ICBA system has a less efficient exciton separation eftleiency than that of P3HT:PCBM, which may result in the interracial photogenerated charges accumulated on the D: A interface. Such progressive phase segregation between P3HT and ICBA eventually leads to the degradation in performance and deteriorates the stability of the device. We also present an approach to enhance the stability of P3HT:ICBA systems by adding PCBM as the second acceptor. Our results show that by carefully tuning the contents of PCBM as the second acceptor, more stable polymer solar cells can be obtained.
文摘Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites have been the subject of recent intense interest due to advances in photovoltaic and other optoelectronic applications. However, their poor stability limits commercial market application We enhance water stability by post treatment preparation of hybrid metal halide perovskite nanocrystal-embedded polymethylmethacrylate (PM- MA) blend films. Through blending process without any cleaning of nanocrystals, crystalline hybrid organic-inorganic perovs-kite nanocrystals were incorporated into PMMA matrix with well-dispersion Passivation of PMMA on the surface of the per-ovskite nanocrystals results in decreased traps and a long photoluminescence (PL) lifetime despite the bromine vacancies in the crystal lattice. Moreover, such color purity and inherent high transmittance for fluorescence emission of perovskite nanocrystals will endow the films with promising potentials in diverse practice photonic applications.
基金the Chinese Academy of scienee and technology service network planning(No.KFJSTS-QYZD-140)a program of Cooperation of Hubei Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences,Innovation team project of Beijing Institute of Science and Technology(No.IG201703N)"13^th five-year"Science and Technology Research Program of the Education Department of Jilin Provinee(No.JJKH20190862KJ).
文摘Sustainable blends of poly(propylene carbonate)(PPC)and stereocomplex polylactide(sc-PLA)were prepared by melt blending equimolar poly(L-lactic acid)(PLLA)and poly(D-lactide acid)(PDLA)with PPC to form sc-PLA crystals in situ in the melt blending process.Differential seanning calorimetry analysis revealed that only sc-PLA,no homo-crystallization of PLLA or PDLA,formed in the PPC matrix as the sc-PLA con tent was more than 10 wt%.Very in triguingly,scan ning electronic microscopy observati on showed that sc-PLA was evenly dispersed in the PPC phase as spherical particles and the sizes of sc-PLA particles did not obviously increase with in creasing sc-PLA con tent.As a con seque nee,the rheological properties of PPC were greatly improved by incorporation of sc-PLA.When the sc-PLA con tent was 20 wt%,a percolati on n etwork structure was formed,and the blends showed solid-like behavior.The sc-PLA particles could reinforce the PPC matrix,especially at a temperature above the glass transition temperature of PPC.Moreover,the Vicat softening temperature of PPC/sc-PLA blends could be increased compared with that of neat PPC.
文摘In this work, polypropylene (PP)/polystyrene (PS) blends with different organoclay concentrations were prepared via melt compounding. Differing from the results of previous reports, the organoclay platelets are mostly located in the dispersed PS phase instead of the interface. The dimensions of the dispersed PS droplets are greatly reduced and apparent compatibilization effect still exists, which cannot be explained by the traditional compatibilization mechanism. A novel compatibilization mecha- nism, "cutting" to apparently compatibilize the immiscible PP/PS blends was proposed. The organoclay platelets tend to form a special "knife-like structure" in the PS domain under the shear stress of the continuous PP phase during compounding. The "clay knife" can split the dispersed PS domain apart and lead to the dramatic reduction of the dispersed domain size.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.51203098 and 51173114)
文摘A series of polymer blends were prepared from 1,3-bis(3,4-dicyanophenoxy)benzene(3 BOCN) and epoxy resin with methyl tetrahydrophthalic anhydride as curing agent. The curing behavior and curing kinetics of the blends were studied by differential scanning calorimetry. The apparent activation energy of the blends with various contents of 3 BOCN was higher than that of the blends without 3 BOCN. A model experiment suggested that there is no obvious reaction between phthalonitrile and epoxy. The thermal and mechanical properties of the polymer blends were evaluated. The polymer blends exhibit high storage modulus and char yield compared with the neat epoxy. The polymer blends show ductile fracture morphology by scanning electron microscopy(SEM) images.
基金the National Key R&D Program of China(No.2018YFB0704200)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.52022061,51803192,52033005 and 51803139).
文摘Interfacial crystallization of polyoxymethylene/poly(butylene succinate)blends induced by the polyamide 6(PA6)fiber was investigated.Due to strong heterogeneous nucleating ability,dense nuclei were generated on the surface of the PA6 fiber,which compelled the growth of twisted lamellae perpendicular to the PA6 fiber.As a result,unique interfacial banded transcrystallization was formed,which is rarely found before.Crystallization temperature was dominant in determining the nucleation activity of the PA6 fiber,further affecting the architecture of banded transcrystallization.With the increase of crystallization temperature,the nucleation density decreased to give more growth space for the twisted lamellae around the fiber.The wave-like banded stripes were transformed into fan-like stripes.Accordingly,band spacing and eccentricity respectively showed positive and negative correlation with crystallization temperature.These meaningful results shed light on regulating the architecture of banded crystals in polymer composites.
基金This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 50390090).
文摘Evolution and fractal character of the phase morphology of high impact polystyrene/poly(cis-butadiene) rubber (HIPS/PcBR) blends during melting and mixing were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The characteristic length L was defined as the size of particles of the dispersed phase in blends. Different fractal dimensions, Df and Din, were introduced to study the distribution width of phase dimensions in the dimensionless region and the uniformity of the spatial distribution of particles, respectively. The results showed that the average characteristic length Lm and Df increase as the volume fraction of the dispersed phase increases, when the volume fraction of the dispersed phase is lower than 50%. In other words, the size of particles increases and their distribution in the dimensionless region becomes more uniform. Meanwhile, the uniformity of the spatial distribution becomes more perfect as the volume fraction increases. At a certain composition, Lm decreases in the initial stage of the mixing and levels off in the late stage. In the initial stage, Df becomes large rapidly with the process of blending, which means that the distribution of L in the dimensionless region becomes more uniform. Meanwhile, the spatial distribution tends to be ideal rapidly in the early stage and fluctuates in a definite range in the late stage of the mixing.