antec article

Abstract

The morphology in immiscible polymer blends may be unstable during further processing. If the initial morphology is co-continuous, injection molding of the blends that have been compounded in an extruder leads to coarse and irregular structures, whereas droplet/matrix morphologies remain unchanged. The changes are caused by the long residence time in the injection molding machine, which promotes the break-up and retraction of the continuous minor phase. By using a static mixer in the nozzle, both the co-continuous morphology and the original phase dimensions are recovered.

SPE antec tech. papers, 44, 2556-2560, 1998

Stability of blends with co-continuous morphologies during injection molding