A. Dondos et al., Difficult reptation of star-shaped polystyrenes in their blends with poly(methyl methacrylate), MACRO RAPID, 21(15), 2000, pp. 1086-1088
Films of polystyrene/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS/PMMA) blends are obtaine
d from solution after evaporation of the solvent. The degree of mixing of t
he two polymers is studied using scanning electron microscopy after selecti
ve elimination of the PS phase. Using star-shaped instead of linear PS, an
important degree of mixing is observed. This must be attributed to difficul
t reptation of the star-shaped chains due to the high number of entanglemen
ts between star-shaped PS and PMMA compared to the entanglements between le
arn PS and PMMA.