MORPHOLOGY AND DIFFUSION STUDY OF POLYSTYRENE WITH POLY (VINYL METHYL ETHER) BLEND

Abstract

The morphology and diffusion of polystyrene (PS) with poly (vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) blend have been investigated by light microscopy on both solvent-casting and mechanical blended samples. Both amorphous polymers are miscible and exhibit lower critical solubility temperature behavior. These preliminary results show that the microstructure of solvent cast samples is different than the microstructure of samples prepared by mechanical mixing. Diffusion between these two polymers was found to be very slow, indicating that a homogeneous blend cannot be achieved during a commercial polymer processing cycle.