a) b - École Polytechnique de Montréal

Continuity Scheme (a)
Figure 6-10. Triangular concentration diagram showing two pathways: Continuity Scheme (a),
and Continuity Scheme (b). Scheme (a) is shown in Figure 6-11 and represents the case where
the concentration of PMMA is kept constant at 40% of total while the concentration ratio of the
PS and HDPE phases change. Scheme (b) is shown in Figure 6-12 where the concentration of
PS is kept constant at 10% of total while the concentration ratio of PMMA and HDPE phases
change. These two pathways were chosen since they pass through a range of different
morphological states.
In Figure 6-11, the continuity of the PS phase following Scheme a is examined as a function of
the % concentration of HDPE in (HDPE plus PS) where HDPE plus PS always equals 60% in
the ternary blend with PMMA. Thus 100% HDPE refers to the 60%HDPE/40%PMMA blend
while 50% HDPE in Figure 6-11 refers to the 30%HDPE/30%PS/40%PMMA blend. At 0% of
HDPE a co-continuous morphology of 40/60 PMMA/PS is formed (point a in Figure 6-11).
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Continuity Scheme (b)