Phase-diagram for Irregular and Non-Symmetric Cross-linked Polymer Blends

Abstract

We consider here a blend made of two types of polymers, $A$ and $B$, of different chemical nature. At high temperature the homogeneous mixture is cross-linked. As the temperature is lowered, the two species try to segregate but are kept together by the cross-links. We show that for inhomogeneous, non-regular and non-permanent cross-links, there is a complete segregation at low temperatures if the system is just weakly cross-linked and partial segregation, otherwise. We also demonstrate that there is no phase transition between the homogeneous phase and the microphase for non-symmetric systems. Our analysis is checked with the experiment.

arXiv comment10 pages, Revtex