Use of the Pendant Drop Method to Measure Interfacial Tension

In this paper the pendant drop method to measure interfacial tension between molten polymers is reviewed. A typical pendant drop apparatus is presented. The algorithms used to infer interfacial tension from the geometrical profile of the pendant drop are described in details, in particular a new routine to evaluate correctly the value of the radius at the apex of the drop, necessary to the calculation of interfacial tension is presented. The method was evaluated for the possibility of measuring the interfacial tension between polyethylene and polystyrene. It is shown that the method is unsuitable for the measurement of interfacial tension between high density polyethylene and polystyrene due possibly to a too small difference of density between the two polymers. Values of interfacial tension between low density polyethylene (LDPE) and polystyrene (PS) as a function of the molecular weight of PS are presented. It was shown that the interfacial tension between LDPE and PS increased as a function of molecular weight of PS up to values of molecular weight of roughly 40,000 g/mol, value for which entanglements occur.