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Kinetics of Phase Separation in Poly(ɛ-caprolactone)/Poly(ethylene glycol) Blends

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Abstract

The poly(ɛ-caprolactone)/poly(ethylene glycol) (PCL/PEG) blends reveal a miscibility window of upper critical solution temperature (UCST) character. The kinetics of liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) for the blends of PCL/PEG is investigated by time-resolved small angle light scattering (TRSALS). The time evolution of scattering profile is analyzed by linear Cahn–Hilliard theory for early stage of spinodal decomposition (SD). The evolution of the maximum intensity Im(t) and the corresponding wavenumber qm(t) obey the power-law scheme (Im(t)∼tβ and qm(t)∼t−α). A relation of β=3α in late stage is obtained almost the same scaling exponents with β≅1 and α≅1/3 for various quenching depths. The α≅1/3 implied that a coarsening mechanism at the late stage of phase separation may proceed with Ostwald ripening or Brownian coalescence process. Besides, the intermediate and late stages of SD can be scaled into a universal from represented well by Furukawa’s structure factor. The percolation to cluster transition is accompanied with α∼0.13→1/3 from intermediate to late stage of SD for the off-critical mixture of PCL/PEG (4/6) blend. In this study, the experimental result demonstrates that the crystallization is a viable mechanism to lock phase-separated structure of the blends. The competition between phase separation and crystallization has been suggested to determine the final morphology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Polymer Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Keelung Rd., Taipei, 10673, Taiwan, R.O.C.

    Wei-Tsung Chuang & Po-Da Hong

  2. School of Dentistry, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, 114, Taiwan, R.O.C.

    Kan-Shan Shih

Authors
  1. Wei-Tsung Chuang
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  2. Kan-Shan Shih
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  3. Po-Da Hong
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Correspondence to Po-Da Hong.

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Chuang, WT., Shih, KS. & Hong, PD. Kinetics of Phase Separation in Poly(ɛ-caprolactone)/Poly(ethylene glycol) Blends. J Polym Res 12, 197–204 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-004-1868-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-004-1868-9

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