Kinetics of flow-induced coalescence and form relaxation in polymer blends as studied by rheo small angle light scattering

Influence of Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes Trapped at the Interface of an Immiscible Polymer Blend on Interfacial Tension

“…The viscoelastic behavior of immiscible polymer blends has been intensely investigated in the past decades 10, 14, 15, 23, 24, 37–41. Rheological studies on the interfacial properties of such systems rely on the key principle that polymer blends are emulsions in the molten state, with a continuous phase (matrix) and a dispersed phase.…”

Measuring of coalescence in polymer melt blends flowing through converging channels

“…Data presented in Figure 4 are in line with both experimental work by Roland and Böhm3 (in which similar flow pattern on a two‐roll mill has been used) and a classic Smoluchovski theory 15. At the same time, the most part of experimental works employing simple shear flow reports a decrease in coalescence efficiency with increasing shear rate 4–10. Since such behavior is usually explained in terms of the drainage theory, the following brief analysis of the subject might be worthwhile.…”

“…The results obtained in these works, employing simple4–10 or complex11 shear flow fields, show that the efficiency of coalescence, E c , increases with decreasing shear rate and increasing content of the dispersed phase. Furthermore, the rate of coalescence of the smaller drops was higher compared to that of the larger drops 6.…”

“…The work9 also reports that in emulsion with a bimodal droplet size distribution the rate of coalescence between small and large domains is higher than that between similar sized drops. Moreover, the deformed droplets coalesced slower than spherical ones 10…”