The morphology of immiscible PDMS/PIB blends filled with silica nanoparticles under shear flow

The influence of surface nature (hydrophobic and hydrophilic) and concentration of silica nanoparticles on the coalescence behavior of immiscible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/polyisobutylene (PIB) (90/10) blends under simple low-rate shear flow were investigated via optical shear technique. It was found that the coalescence of PIB droplets in PDMS matrix was suppressed efficiently by incorporating hydrophobic silica nanoparticles, and a constant droplet size was obtained at high particle contents. The addition of a small amount (<0.4 wt.%) of hydrophilic silica nanoparticles also decreased the size of PIB droplets. Clusters of small PIB droplets were formed at low filler concentration. When the filler concentration exceeded 0.8 wt.%, the clusters of PIB drops disappeared and elongated PIB threads with large size were formed, which suggest that the coalescence of PIB droplets was promoted. The results indicate that the discrepancy in the morphology evolution of PDMS/PIB blends upon the addition of silica nanoparticles is controlled not only by the surface chemistry of nanoparticles but also by their concentration in the blends.