Interfacial reaction induced roughening in polymer blends

Interfacial reaction between two immiscible polymers can cause changes in t he interfacial morphology. We demonstrated this using an aliphatic amine te rminated polystyrene (PS-NH2) and anhydride terminated poly(methyl methacry late) (PMMA-ah). Interfacial morphologies were recorded using transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Coupling of PS-NH2 and PMM A-ah induced flat interfaces to roughen with a magnitude of roughness aroun d a few hundred nanometers. These morphological changes were explained in t erms of the decrease of interfacial tension due to the creation of block co polymers and the thermal fluctuation induced deformations at interfaces.