Rheological properties of linear and crosslinked polymer blends: Relation between crosslink density and enhancement of elongational viscosity

Strain-hardening behavior in the elongational viscosity of binary blends composed of a linear polymer and a crosslinked polymer, in which the molecular chains of the linear polymer were incorporated into the network chains of the crosslinked polymer, was studied. Blending the crosslinked polymer characterized as the gel just beyond the sol-gel transition point greatly enhanced the strain-hardening behavior in the elongational viscosity, even though the amount of the crosslinked polymer was only 0.3 wt %. However, the crosslinked polymer, which was far beyond or below the sol-gel transition point, had little influence on the elongational viscosity as well as the shear viscosity. The stretching of the chain sections between the crosslink points was responsible for the strain-hardening behavior. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.