Linear viscoelasticity of polymer blends with co-continuous morphology

The co-continuous morphology of polymer blends has received much attention not only because of its potential promotion of mechanical or electrical properties of polymer blends, but also due to its importance in phase separation by spinodal decomposition. Compared to the recent advances in the characterization of co-continuous structure, the rheology of co-continuous blends has not been understood clearly. In this work, a rheological model is suggested to correlate the linear viscoelasticity and the structural information of co-continuous blends. The dynamic modulus of co-continuous blends is composed of the contribution from components and the interface. The interfacial contribution, which is most important in the rheology of blends, is calculated from a simplified co-continuous structure. This model has been compared satisfactorily with available experimental results, which proves a reasonable connection between the co-continuous structure and linear viscoelasticity of blends. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.