EFFECT OF CASTING SOLVENT ON THE HETEROGENEITY OF FILMS OF POLYMER BLENDS

The miscibility window of the 50/50 w/w poly(styrene-co-4-vinylphenyldimethylsilanol/poly(n-butyl methacrylate) (ST-VPDMS/PBMA) blends prepared from toluene was studied and determined to be in the VPDMS composition range of 4 to 18 mole% in the copolymers. The observed miscibility window was to be compared to the range of 9 to 34 mole% found for the blends prepared from methyl ethyl ketone which was capable of competing for hydrogen bonding. The fact that the observed miscibility windows are influenced by the choice of solvents illustrates that an equilibrium state of polymer mixing is not always attained in solvent casting films and that caution needs to be exercised in studying polymer miscibility when solvent cast films are used.