Stretching induced phase separation in poly(vinylidene fluoride)/poly(butylene succinate) blends studied by in-situ X-ray scattering

The structure evolution of poly(vinylidene fluoride)/poly(butylene succinate) (PVDF/PBS) blends during stretching above the melting point of PBS is investigated by synchrotron-based simultaneous wide angle and small angle X-ray scattering (WAXS/SAXS). Before stretching, PVDF crystallizes into the α-form, whereas the chains of molten PBS locate at the inter-lamellar amorphous phase of PVDF. Crystal transition from α to β of PVDF is observed in all samples during stretching. The morphological transformation from a lamellar structure into a fibrillar structure occurs at low and intermediate strains. With further deformation, a “stretching induced phase separation” phenomenon is observed. The final microstructure of PVDF/PBS blends contains PVDF microfibrils with PBS chains preferentially distributed in the inter-fibrillar region. The PBS molecular weight influences the onset and end strain for the transition. A new “two-step model” is proposed to describe the deformation process.