LCST-UCST Hybrid Phase Diagram of Poly(ɛ-Caprolactone)/Poly(Styrene-co-Acrylonitrile) Blends Through Thermal and Rheological Approaches: Effects of PCL Molecular Weight and Cooling Ramp Rate
Parisa Soltanian
Department of Chemical Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), Data curation (equal), Formal analysis (equal), Investigation (equal), Methodology (equal), Software (equal), Writing - original draft (equal)
Search for more papers by this authorReza Jahanmardi
Department of Chemical Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Contribution: Investigation (equal), Methodology (equal), Supervision (equal), Writing - original draft (equal)
Search for more papers by this authorFarkhondeh Hemmati
Caspian Faculty of Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Guilan, Iran
Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), Methodology (equal), Supervision (equal), Writing - original draft (equal)
Search for more papers by this authorMeisam Shabanian
Department of Polymer Processing, Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute, Tehran, Iran
Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), Formal analysis (equal), Investigation (equal), Methodology (equal)
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Hossein Ali Khonakdar
Department of Polymer Processing, Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute, Tehran, Iran
Correspondence:
Hossein Ali Khonakdar ([email protected])
Contribution: Funding acquisition (equal), Investigation (equal), Project administration (equal), Software (equal), Supervision (equal), Validation (equal), Visualization (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)
Search for more papers by this authorParisa Soltanian
Department of Chemical Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), Data curation (equal), Formal analysis (equal), Investigation (equal), Methodology (equal), Software (equal), Writing - original draft (equal)
Search for more papers by this authorReza Jahanmardi
Department of Chemical Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Contribution: Investigation (equal), Methodology (equal), Supervision (equal), Writing - original draft (equal)
Search for more papers by this authorFarkhondeh Hemmati
Caspian Faculty of Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Guilan, Iran
Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), Methodology (equal), Supervision (equal), Writing - original draft (equal)
Search for more papers by this authorMeisam Shabanian
Department of Polymer Processing, Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute, Tehran, Iran
Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), Formal analysis (equal), Investigation (equal), Methodology (equal)
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Hossein Ali Khonakdar
Department of Polymer Processing, Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute, Tehran, Iran
Correspondence:
Hossein Ali Khonakdar ([email protected])
Contribution: Funding acquisition (equal), Investigation (equal), Project administration (equal), Software (equal), Supervision (equal), Validation (equal), Visualization (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)
Search for more papers by this authorFunding: The authors received no specific funding for this work.
ABSTRACT
The lower critical solution temperature (LCST) phase diagram of poly(ɛ-caprolactone)/poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) (PCL/SAN) blend was obtained through temperature sweep rheological tests. The effect of the cooling rate of the temperature sweep test and the increased molecular weight of PCL on the phase separation points of PCL/SAN blends was studied. The phase transition boundary of PCL/SAN blends was investigated using the changes in the slope of the storage modulus curve in terms of temperature as well as the spinodal temperatures based on Ajji and Choplin's theory. The LCST diagram obtained through the temperature sweep test for PCL/SAN blends moved to higher points with the increase in the molecular weight of PCL, and the phase diagram was moved to lower points by increasing the cooling rate of the temperature sweep tests. With the increase in the molecular weight of faster PCL phase in the blend, the viscoelastic difference of the two phases decreased and the compatibility window expanded.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open Research
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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