Measurement of interfacial tensions of molten polymer systems by means of the spinning drop method

Abstract

The spinning drop method is used to measure the interfacial tension of molten polymer systems. It proves to be a simple and rather fast measuring method, while satisfactory agreement with literature values, obtained with the pendant drop method, is achieved.

Interfacial tension of compatibilized blends of LDPE and PA6: the breaking thread method

“…It should be mentioned that the evaluation of the tabulated function V m is only possible if thread break-up is generated by a distortion having a dominant wavelength close to the theoretical one [13,14]. So, the experimental wave number (X exp ) must be compared to the theoretical one (X m ) to provide control over the quality of the experiment.…”

“…The pendant drop [1,10,11] and spinning drop [12,13] are the techniques mostly used. The above methods are equilibrium methods and normally require long experimental time and involve complicated experimental procedures.…”

Understanding droplet coalescence and its use to estimate interfacial tension

“…The spinning drop tensiometry (Vonnegut 1942), its application to polymers (Elmendorp and de Vos 1986;Joseph et al 1992), the pendant drop method (see for example Kamal et al 1997), the filament thread method (Cohen and Carriere 1989), the embedded disk retraction method (Rundqvist et al 1996), the ellipsoidal drop retraction (Luciani et al 1997) or combinations of such methods (filament thread method -ellipsoidal retraction, Tjahjadi et al 1994), all require a very well designed drop or filament to be inserted into another polymer, which is sometimes very difficult. In our instrument, all that is needed is to mix two polymers without having to worry about shaping droplets.…”

Viscoelastic properties and interfacial tension of polystyrene-polyethylene blends

“…Among them are the breaking thread, the fiber retraction, the spinning drop, and pendent drop techniques. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23] Each method presents certain advantages and limitations. The breaking-thread technique requires the knowledge of the zero-shear viscosity of the materials used.…”