Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 22, 2025

Microfluidic Preparation of Liquid Crystalline Elastomer Actuators
Published on: May 20, 2018
Viscoelastic Phase Separation and Interface Assisted Crystallization in a Highly Immiscible iPP/PMMA Blend
Weichao Shi1, Fenghua Chen1, Yan Zhang1
1Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Joint Laboratory of Polymer Science and Materials, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
Abstract:
Polymer blends with dynamic asymmetry have attracted much interest recently. In this study, we report a more typical case where the dynamically asymmetric system is highly immiscible. We find that there is a transient network growth and phase inversion for the slow minor component. The network structure shows a hierarchical growth behavior, which is the result of competition between a slow relaxation-controlled concentration growth on local scale and a fast hydrodynamic growth on large scale. When phase separation couples with a subsequent crystallization, the interfacial boundary may assist lateral crystallization and irregular spherulites would grow epitaxially around the amorphous component-rich domains. The interface may play the role of substrates for heterogeneous nucleation. These phenomena may help us with morphological control in material processing.
More Related Videos
09:09Synthesis of PolyN-isopropylacrylamide Janus Microhydrogels for Anisotropic Thermo-responsiveness and Organophilic/Hydrophilic Loading Capability
Published on: February 27, 2016
11:42Synthesis of Monodisperse Cylindrical Nanoparticles via Crystallization-driven Self-assembly of Biodegradable Block Copolymers
Published on: June 20, 2019
Related Concept Videos
Polymer Classification: Crystallinity
Crystalline domains are the regions where polymer chains are aligned in an orderly manner and held together in proximity by intermolecular forces. For example, chains in the crystalline domains of polyethylene and nylon are bound together by van der Waals...
Polymer Classification: Stereospecificity
Recrystallization: Solid–Solution Equilibria
Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing