Altering the Miscibility of Polymeric Blends with Electric Fields: A Study on Polystyrene / Poly(vinyl methyl ether) Blends

摘要

Polymeric blends exhibit limited miscibility because their macromolecular size minimizes the entropy gain on mixing. As such, the phase behavior of polymeric mixtures is extremely sensitive to enthalpic interactions and external perturbations. Methods by which the miscibility of polymeric blends could be tuned or controlled, without changing the underlying chemistry, have great practical benefits for the processing of such blends. One such possible method is the application of electric fields. Although electric fields are extensively used to orient polymer domains in blends and block copolymers, how electric fields alter the underlying miscibility of the system is poorly understood.