Morphology evolution and rheological properties of polybutadiene/polyisoprene blend after the cessation of steady shear.

The morphology evolution and rheological response of a near-critical composition polybutadiene/polyisoprene blend after the cessation of steady shear was studied with an ARES rheometer and a shear light scattering photometer equipped with an optical microscope in this work. The relationship between the morphology of the blend during the relaxation after the cessation of steady shear with different shear rates and their corresponding rheological properties was successfully established. It was found that the different shear-induced morphologies under steady shear would relax to the equilibrium states via varied mechanisms after the shear cessation. The average size of the dispersed domains in the coarsening process was influenced by the pre-shear history. The results indicated that the pre-shear history could slow down the growth rate of phase domains during the coarsening process. It had effect on the coarsening mechanism on the early stage of relaxation after the cessation of very strong shear when the homogenization effects were strong, but no effect on the late stage. The storage modulus G' increased significantly in the breakup process of the string-like phase. After all the string-like structures were broken up into small ellipsoids, then G' gradually decreased and finally approached to an invariant value. The characteristic rheological behavior can be attributed to the different structure on the relaxation process.