SHEAR-INDUCED HOMOGENIZATION OF A DILUTED POLYMER BLEND

The miscibility of a diluted polymer blend under steady shear has been investigated in the two-phase region using fluorescence and phase-con trast microscopy. Critical exponents describing the shape of the coexi stence curve and the shift of the critical temperature Delta T-c(gamma ) were compatible with expectations based on renormalization group and mode-coupling theories, but the introduction of a reduced variable de scription of Delta T-c suggested a tendency for T-c to saturate at hig h shear rates.