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Jiang T, Wang XY, Liu H, Yu L, Park CB, Wang J. Closely Packed Conductive Droplets with Polygon-Like Patterns Confined at the Interface in Ternary Polymer Blends. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2022; 38:3189-3201. [PMID: 35245061 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.1c03221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
This work reports on the formation of closely packed conductive droplets demonstrating polygon-like patterns at the interface in partially wetted ternary polymer systems prepared by melt blending and annealing treatment. The low-density polyethylene/poly(ether-block-amide)/poly(butylene-adipate-co-terephthalate) (LDPE/PEBA/PBAT) blend showed an intermediate partial wetting tendency where the interfacially localized conductive PEBA phase developed connected structure after blending but transformed into dispersed droplets upon annealing. The coalescence of the PEBA droplets appeared to be initiated by the Rayleigh-type instability in the thin PBAT film separating PEBA. However, the intrinsic coalescence rate of the PEBA droplets was very low due to the low interfacial tension of PEBA/PBAT. This slow coalescence of PEBA combined with the fast reduction in the interfacial area during annealing and the intermediate partial wetting state of the LDPE/PEBA/PBAT system resulted in a unique morphology of closely packed PEBA droplets with polygon-like patterns at a volume fraction of 50/10/40. Two other representative ternary polymer blends, LDPE/PEBA/polypropylene (PP) and compatibilized LDPE/PEBA/polystyrene (PS), with strong and weak partial wetting morphologies were also examined to highlight the mechanism for the morphology development in the LDPE/PEBA/PBAT blend.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tianyu Jiang
- Centre for Polymers from Renewable Resources, Collage of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
| | - Xiao-Yan Wang
- Centre for Polymers from Renewable Resources, Collage of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
| | - Hongsheng Liu
- Centre for Polymers from Renewable Resources, Collage of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
- Sino-Singapore International Joint Research Institute, Knowledge City, Guangzhou, 510663, China
| | - Long Yu
- Centre for Polymers from Renewable Resources, Collage of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
- Sino-Singapore International Joint Research Institute, Knowledge City, Guangzhou, 510663, China
| | - Chul B Park
- Microcellular Plastics Manufacturing Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto M5S 3G8, Canada
| | - Jun Wang
- Centre for Polymers from Renewable Resources, Collage of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
- Microcellular Plastics Manufacturing Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto M5S 3G8, Canada
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