AN EXTENSION OF THE PAINTER-COLEMAN MISCIBILITY GUIDE TO TERNARY POLYMER BLENDS

The idea of separating the free energy of mixing into two contribution s corresponding to the ''physical'' or ''nonspecific'' and to the ''sp ecific'' interactions, respectively) proposed by Painter and Coleman h as been extended to ternary polymer/polymer/polymer blends. In this pa per experimental phase diagrams of three ternary blends have been repr oduced by estimating both contributions for the interaction energy den sity (B(ij)) which characterizes each polymer pair. In contrast to the Painter-Coleman Miscibility Guide rules, we have found that, in some cases, ''specific'' contributions positive and unfavorable to the mixi ng, due to the self-association of one of the components, can describe more adequately the experimental trends.