A study of the blending of ethylene-styrene copolymers differing in the copolymer styrene content: Miscibility considerations

Abstract

Blends of two or more ethylene–styrene (ES) copolymers that differed primarily in the comonomer composition of the copolymers were studied. Available thermodynamic models for copolymer–copolymer blends were utilized to determine the criteria for miscibility between two ES copolymers differing in styrene content and also between ES copolymers and the respective homopolymers, polystyrene and linear polyethylene. Model estimations were compared with experimental observations based primarily on melt-blended ES/ES systems, particularly via the analysis of the glass-transition (Tg ) behavior from differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and solid-state dynamic mechanical spectroscopy. The critical comonomer difference in the styrene content at which phase separation occurred was estimated to be about 10 wt % for ES copolymers with a molecular weight of about 105 and was in general agreement with the experimental observations. The range of ES copolymers that could be produced by the variation of the comonomer content allowed the study of blends with amorphous and semicrystalline components. Crystallinity differences for the blends, as determined by DSC, appeared to be related to the overlapping of the Tg of the amorphous component with the melting range of the semicrystalline component and/or the reduction in the mobility of the amorphous phase due to the presence of the higher Tg of the amorphous blend component. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 38: 2976–2987, 2000