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Phase Equilibria And Phase Separation Dynamics In A Polymer Composite Containing A Main-Chain Liquid Crystalline Polymer, Do Kim, Thein Kyu, Takeji Hashimoto
Phase Equilibria And Phase Separation Dynamics In A Polymer Composite Containing A Main-Chain Liquid Crystalline Polymer, Do Kim, Thein Kyu, Takeji Hashimoto
Thein Kyu
Various topological phase diagrams of blends of main-chain liquid crystalline polymer (MCLCP) and flexible polymer have been established theoretically in the framework of Matsuyama–Kato theory by combining Flory–Huggins (FH) free energy for isotropic mixing, Maier–Saupe (MS) free energy for nematic ordering in the constituent MCLCP, and free energy pertaining to polymer chain-rigidity. As a scouting study, various phase diagrams of binary flexible polymer blends have been solved self-consistently that reveal a combined lower critical solution temperature (LCST) and upper critical solution temperature (UCST), including an hourglass phase diagram. The calculated phase diagrams exhibit liquidus and solidus lines along with a …
Dynamics Of Spherulitic Growth In Blends Of Polypropylene Isomers, Rujul Mehta, Thein Kyu
Dynamics Of Spherulitic Growth In Blends Of Polypropylene Isomers, Rujul Mehta, Thein Kyu
Thein Kyu
The spatiotemporal growth of spherulites in blends of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) and atactic polypropylene (aPP) isomers has been investigated theoretically with the time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau equation, which consists of a nonconserved crystal order parameter and a conserved compositional order parameter. In the description of the total free energy, a local free energy density in the form of an asymmetrical double well, signifying the metastability and latent heat of crystallization, is combined with a nonlocal free energy term representing the interface gradient. In addition, the Flory–Huggins free energy for mixing between iPP and aPP isomers has been employed to account for blend …