| Abstract: | The dynamic rheological properties of poly(etherimide)/poly(etheretherketone)/liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) ternary blends were measured in order to correlate these properties with the morphology obtained after extrusion. The viscosity radio, ηd/ηm, where ηd = disperse phase viscosity and ηm = matrix viscosity, had to be redefined. Below 50 wt% LCP, ηd = ηLCP, ηm = ηPEEK+PEI and ηd/ηm < 1. Above 50 wt% LCP, ηd = ηPEEK+PEI, ηm = ηLCP and ηd/ηm > 1. Fibrillar morphologies were obtained in both cases, except below a concentration of 20 wt% LCP. At low concentrations of LCP the ternary blends had lower viscosities than the component polymers, showing a flow promotion effect of the LCP on the PEI- and PEEK-rich phases. |
