DETERMINATION OF UNBLENDED CHAIN DYNAMIC PARAMETERS OF A POLAR DISCONTINUOUS PHASE IN AN IMMISCIBLE POLYMER BLEND

A method is described by which the relaxation characteristics of a polar polymer in an included phase of an immiscible polymeric blend can be determined from those of the composite. The necessary prerequisite is that the relaxation regions of the matrix and of the dispersed phase do not overlap. First, the dynamic relaxation data of the composite is fitted to the Havriliak-Negami function using a multi-response fitting method. Next, the relaxation function for the included phase is determined using composite mixing equations and the data for the pure matrix. This method is demonstrated for dielectric data on a polypropylene/polyurethane (PP/PUR) composite containing 20 wt% polar additive. The resulting unblended relaxation function parameters of PUR are discussed and compared to other unblended PUR literature data. Blending PUR with PP did not change the shape of the relaxation process, did shift the maximum frequency by about half a decade, and significantly reduced the limiting values of the dielectric constants.