Phase separation of a polymer solution exhibits a peculiar behavior when induced in a nanoconfinement. The energetic constraints introduce additional interactions between the polymer segments that reduce the number of available configurations. In our work, this effect is exploited in a one-step strategy called nanoconfined-Thermally Induced Phase Separation (nc-TIPS) to promote the crystallizat...

Thermally induced phase separation in concentrated lower critical solution temperature (LCST) blends of poly[(α-methyl styrene)-co-acrylonitrile]/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PαMSAN/PMMA) in presence of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) with different surface characteristics (~NH2 functionalized and polyethylene modified) was monitored by modulated differential scanning calorimetry, melt rheolog...

Mixtures of colloids and polymers display a rich phase behavior, involving colloidal gas (rich in polymer, poor in colloid), colloidal liquid (poor in polymer, rich in colloid) and colloidal crystal phases (poor in polymer, highly ordered colloids). Recently, the colloidal gas-colloidal liquid interface received considerable attention as well. Due to the colloidal length scale the interfacial t...