Liquid-liquid demixing and crystallization in binary polymer solutions

Phase separation often plays a major role in controlling the morphology of polymeric materials. Phase separation in polymer solutions is often used in the production of polymeric membranes, and understanding of phase separation leads to control over such variables as pore size and permeability. In solutions, two types of phase separation can occur liquid-liquid (L-L) demixing and crystallization. In the above experiments, it appears that the crystallization does not alter the previous L-L phase separated structure. Faster cooling rates are currently under study to determine whether crystallization can significantly perturb the morphology associated with L-L phase separation when the two processes occur on comparable time scales.