Formation and Development of Phase Morphology and Structure on Polystyrene Blends. I. Study of Phase Behavior and Structure Character of Polystyrene/Poly (cis‐butadiene) Rubber Immiscible System During Melt Blending by Scanning Electron Microscopy

Abstract

Polystyrene/poly(cis‐butadiene) rubber blends were prepared by melt blending. The morphology development of the blend system was examined by intermittent extraction of material and scanning electron microscopy. The mixing process of the immiscible system was described through the characteristic length L and the average characteristic length L _m. The distribution of L was shown to be consonant with a log‐normal distribution. The mixing system was demonstrated to possess self‐similarity in a certain range of time and space, as shown through a scale function. Furthermore, the fractal dimension D at different times was calculated and shown to be a parameter that can be used to describe the dynamic process of the melt blending.

Keywords:

• Polymer blends
• Polystyrene blends
• Poly(cis‐butadiene) rubber blends
• Fractal character of polymer blends

Acknowledgment

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of a National Natural Science Foundation (China) (Grant No. 59733070).