Krawczyk, Jarosław, Croce, Salvatore, McLeish, T C B orcid.org/0000-0002-2025-0299 et al. (1 more author) (2016) Elasticity Dominated Surface Segregation of Small Molecules in Polymer Mixtures. Physical Review Letters. 208301. ISSN 1079-7114
Abstract
We study the phenomenon of migration of the small molecular weight component of a binary polymer mixture to the free surface using mean field and self-consistent field theories. By proposing a free energy functional that incorporates polymer-matrix elasticity explicitly, we compute the migrant volume fraction and show that it decreases significantly as the sample rigidity is increased. A wetting transition, observed for high values of the miscibility parameter can be prevented by increasing the matrix rigidity. Estimated values of the bulk modulus suggest that the effect should be observable experimentally for rubberlike materials. This provides a simple way of controlling surface migration in polymer mixtures and can play an important role in industrial formulations, where surface migration often leads to decreased product functionality.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Physics (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 21 Feb 2018 09:30 |
Last Modified: | 16 Oct 2024 14:28 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.208301 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.208301 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:127788 |
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Filename: PhysRevLett.116.208301.pdf
Description: Elasticity Dominated Surface Segregation of Small Molecules in Polymer Mixtures