Linear polymers with the same monomer units and different
molecular
weights form miscible blends considered to be single polymers, but
the situation changes if one is hyperbranched. Hyperbranched macromolecules
can significantly change the rheology of a linear polymer due to a
different flow mechanism and can even lead to the formation of immiscible
or partially miscible blends with unusual mechanical properties due
to the emulsion state and low droplet–matrix interfacial tension.
Blends of hyperbranched polydimethylsiloxane (silicone MT resin, H-PDMS)
with similar linear polymers (L-PDMS) of different molecular weights
in a concentration range from 20 to 80% have been studied in this
work. Laser interferometry of the diffusion zone between H-PDMS and
L-PDMS showed their limited miscibility that is improving with decreasing
molecular weight of the linear polymer, leading to a decrease in the
upper critical solution temperature. The solubility of H-PDMS in L-PDMS
is much higher than that of L-PDMS in H-PDMS (20–50% versus
1–2% at 25 °C, depending on the molecular weight of L-PDMS),
and H-PDMS emulsifies in L-PDMS but not vice versa. As a result, the
partially miscible blends are emulsions of almost pure H-PDMS in a
saturated H-PDMS/L-PDMS solution, even at an H-PDMS concentration
as high as 80%. The thermorheological behavior of blends was described
using an averaged combination of the Arrhenius and Williams–Landel–Ferry
equations, allowing for overcoming the large difference in the glass
transition temperatures of hyperbranched and linear macromolecules.
The viscosity of blends with a higher-molecular-weight L-PDMS has
a positive deviation from the log-additivity rule due to macromolecular
entanglements, while a decrease in the molecular weight of L-PDMS
causes an abnormal drop in viscosities below those of pure polymers.
The anomalous decrease in viscosity appears only in a specific temperature
range and is explained by mixing a polymer with a high glass transition
temperature and high flow activation energy (H-PDMS) with one having
lower values of these characteristics (L-PDMS).