We study the onset of chain stretch and emergent extension hardening in the nonlinear rheological response of molten binary blends of long and short polymers. We predict that, upon dilution with short chains, the effective stretch relaxation time of the long chains initially increases in proportion to varphi_{L};{-alpha} (where varphi_{L} is the volume fraction of long chains and alpha is the d...

Phase behavior and its effects on crystallization in an extruded poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT)/phenoxy resin blend were studied with time-resolved light scattering (TRLS), optical microscopy (OM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). During annealing in the molten state, a two-phase structure with unique periodicity and phase connectivity wa...

Immiscible polymers are often blended together to create new materials with desired properties. Knowledge of the interfacial tension between the immiscible polymers is important when designing such blending processes. Traditional methods of measuring the interfacial tension between low molecular weight fluids, e.g., the pendant or sessile drop method, the Wilhelmy balance, and the spinning drop...