A LATTICE-MODEL MOLECULAR THEORY FOR THE PROPERTIES OF POLYMER BLENDS

A summary is provided of recent advances in the application of the lattice cluster theory to describe the properties of polymer blends. Particular discussions are given for the pressure dependence of polymer properties, the composition and temperature dependence of the effective interaction parameter (chi), and the shift in blend phase diagrams with the addition of diblock copolymers. The computations predict the possibility of destabilizing blends with appropriately designed block copoly:mers formed from the same components as in the blend. The extensive comparisons of theory with experiment emphasize the important combined influences of monomer molecular structures, local correlations and compressibility on the observed properties of polymer melts and blends.