Lower critical solution temperature , polymer blend phase separation

The formulation of Scott (44) does not present the range of phenomena occurring in polymer blends. Various binary blends exhibit lower critical solution temperatures (LCST) where phase separations occur at lower temperature. Other blends exhibit upper critical solution temperatures (UCST) where miscible blends exhibit phase separations at higher temperatures (45). It was shown by McMaster (46) that volume changes occurred in mixing. 

Polymer blends may be characterized in terms of the temperature dependence of the Flury-Huggins interaction parameter (j)- In the case of an upper critical solution temperature (UCST) blend, / decreases with temperature, and the blend remains miscible. For phase separation to occur in a UCST blend, the temperature must be lower than the critical solution temperature. In the case of a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) blend, x increases with temperature, and thus phase separation occurs above the critical solution temperature. The ability of CO2 to mimic heat means that miscibility is enhanced in the case of UCST blends, and for the case of LCST blends the miscibihty is depressed. Ramachandrarao et al. [132] explained this phenomenon by postulating a dilation disparity occurring at higher CO2 concentration as a result of the preferential affinity of CO2 to one of the components of the blend, inducing free-volume and packing disparity. 

Poly(vinyl methyl ether), PVME, is a thermo-sensitive polymer. The aqueous solution has a Lower Critical Solution Temperature (LCST) of 37 °C. Therefore, PVME is soluble in water below its LCST, but insoluble above its LCST. When an aqueous solution of PVME is irradiated with y-rays the solution becomes PVME hydrogel [18, 19]. The gel shows thermo-sensitivity similar to the solution, and swells below 37 °C and shrinks above this temperature. It is important to form a fine porous gel structure to obtain quick response gels. There are two methods for the purpose. One is a method using micro-phase separation by heating. The other is a method using micro-phase separation by blending of polymer solutions. 

Phase dissolution in polymer blends. The reverse process of phase separation is phase dissolution. Without loss of general validity, one may assume again that blends display LCST behavior. The primary objective is to study the kinetics of isothermal phase dissolution of phase-separated structures after a rapid temperature-jump from the two-phase region into the one-phase region below the lower critical solution temperature. Hence, phase-separated structures are dissolved by a continuous descent of the thermodynamic driving force responsible for the phase separation. The theory of phase separation may also be used to discuss the dynamics of phase dissolution. However, unlike the case of phase separation, the linearized theory now describes the late stage of phase dissolution where concentration gradients are sufficiently small. In the context of the Cahn theory, it follows for the decay rate R(q) of Eq. (29) [74]... 

This figure clearly shows the temperature and composition windows where it is either a two-phase system or a single-phase system. The characteristic features of an upper critical solution temperature (UCST) and a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) corresponding to the phase transition are identified. For a particular composition of two immiscible polymers, if the temperature is increased, the UCST is the highest temperature at which two phases may co-exist in the blend. There is then a window of miscibility as the temperature is increased further, followed by phase separation again at the LCST. This type of diagram is often seen for polymer solutions, e.g. polystyrene in cyclohexane. Often polymer blends show... 

It is claimed that although measurements of the lower limit are reproducible determination of the upper limit is quite a problem with errors of 2-3 nm in the calculations. Apparently above this limit solvent cast films appear to be immiscible whatever the polymer tacticity. It is suggested that changes in the donor/acceptor emissions with tacticity are simply due to an effect on the chain conformation of the probability of intermolecular interactions. As a final criticism it is shown that heating a monophase blend above the lower critical solution temperature does not actually result in a significant enough change in the donor/acceptor emission ratio to be able to detect phase separation. However, it should be pointed out that the studies of... 

Kapnistos, M., Hinrichs, A., Vlassopoulos, D., Anastasiadis, S. H., Stammer, A., and Wolf, B. A., Rheology of a lower critical solution temperature binary polymer blend in the homogeneous, phase-separated, and transitional regimes. Macromolecules, 29, 7155-7163 (1996). 

For most polymer blends, the phase diagram is characterized by the presence of the lower critical solution temperature, LCST. Thus, as the temperature increases, miscible polymer blends may phase-separate. Theoretically, the miscibility region stretches up to the binodal. However, as the system approaches the binodal. 

Caneba, G. T., and Shi, L., 2002. Lower critical solution temperature of polymer-smaU molecule systems a review , in Phase Separation in Polymer Solutions and Blends, P. K. Chan (Ed.), Research Signpost, ISBN 81-7736-097-3, Chapter 4, pp. 63-104. 

When a homogeneous mixture solution is cooled, phase separation is induced at a certain temperature. This critical phase separation temperature is termed the upper critical solution temperature (UCST). It is a convex upward curve in the plot of composition versus temperature (C-T plot) and its maximum point shifts to a higher temperature with increasing relative molecular mass of the polymer. However, for many polymer-solvent and polymer-polymer blend systems, a decrease in mutual solubility is also observed as the temperature increases. The critical phase separation temperature is called the lower critical solution temperature (LCST). It is a convex downward curve in the C-T plot and the minimum point shifts to a lower temperature with increasing relative molecular mass of the blend components. LCST occurs at a higher temperature than UCST. 

Once the binary interaction parameters for the blend system are known, EOS theory can be used to predict phase separation behavior. Lower critical solution temperature (LCST) is the temperature above which a miscible system becomes immiscible. Upper critical solution temperature (UCST) is the temperature above which an immiscible polymer blend system becomes miscible. Some polymer-polymer systems exhibit either LCST or UCST or both or neither. Another set of phase separation can be obtained as shown in the copolymer-homopolymer example in Section 3.2 by varying the blend volume fraction. The Gibbs free energy of mixing per unit volume for a binary system of two polymers can be written as... 

Matyjaszewski et al. [2] patented a novel and flexible method for the preparation of CNTs with predetermined morphology. Phase-separated copolymers/stabilized blends of polymers can be pyrolyzed to form the carbon tubular morphology. These materials are referred to as precursor materials. One of the comonomers that form the copolymers can be acrylonitrile, for example. Another material added along with the precursor material is called the sacrificial material. The sacrificial material is used to control the morphology, self-assembly, and distribution of the precursor phase. The primary source of carbon in the product is the precursor. The polymer blocks in the copolymers are immiscible at the micro scale. Free energy and entropic considerations can be used to derive the conditions for phase separation. Lower critical solution temperatures and upper critical solution temperatures (LCST and UCST) are also important considerations in the phase separation of polymers. But the polymers are covalently attached, thus preventing separation at the macro scale. Phase separation is limited to the nanoscale. The nanoscale dimensions typical of these structures range from 5-100 nm. The precursor phase pyrolyzes to form carbon nanostructures. The sacrificial phase is removed after pyrolysis. 

When polymers undergo phase separation in thin films, the kinetic and thermodynamic effects are expected to be pronounced. The phase separation process can be controlled to effect desired morphologies. Under suitable conditions a film deposition process can lead to pattern replication. Demixing of polymer blends can lead to structure formation. The phase separation process can be characterized by the binodal and spinodal curves. UCST is the upper critical solution temperature, which is the temperature above which the blend constituents are completely miscible in each other in all proportions. LUST behavior is not found as often in systems other than among polymers. LUST is the lower critical solution temperature. This is the... 

FIGURE 1.1 Phase behavior of polymer blends with the upper and the lower critical solution temperature UCST and LCST (A) single-phase miscible region between two binodals, (B) two-phase separated regions of immiscibiUty, surrounded by spinodals, (C) four fragmented metastable regions between binodals and spinodals. (Adapted from Ougizawa Toshiaki and Inoue Takashi. Polym. J., 18, no. 7, 521-527, 1986.)... 

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