Crystallization, melting and morphology of syndiotactic/atactic polystyrene blends: Molecular weight effects of atactic polystyrene

Molecular weight (MW) effects of atactic polystyrene (aPS) on the morphologies and crystallization kinetics of syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS) blends have been investigated, and miscibility was confirmed for all the sPS/ aPS blends. Addition of aPS(M) or aPS(L) leads to a significant increase in the entropy of mixing and gives rise to a pronounced decrease in the equilibrium melting temperature of the blends. On heating from the glassy state, the crystallization peak temperature of the sPS/aPS(H) blend increased with increasing aPS content due to a dilution effect, whereas those of sPS/aPS(M) and sPS/aPS(L) decreased mainly due to enhanced chain mobility. On cooling from the melt state, the crystallization peak temperature decreased with increasing aPS content regardless of the aPS MW. A higher activation energy is required for the sPS component transport from the miscible melt to the growth front in the sPS/aPS(L), suggesting that extra energy is required for the demixing process. Interspherulitic segregation of aPS diluents was evident in the sPS/aPS(L) blends, while interfibrillar segregation morphology was obtained in the sPS/ aPS(H) as well as the sPS/aPS(U) blends.