Characterization of microvoids in PPO/PS polymer blend by means of 129Xe NMR spectroscopy Original Research Article

Relationships among 129Xe NMR chemical shift, Xe sorption properties, and density have been investigated for poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) / polystyrene miscible blend system in order to evaluate the variation of microvoids by blending. Xe sorption isotherms of all samples have been explained successfully on the basis of the dual-mode sorption model. Xe sorption properties and densities of blended samples have indicated the reduction of microvoids by blending. 129Xe NMR chemical shifts of 129Xe sorbed in each sample have shown a non-linear low-field shift with increasing total amount of Xe sorption. Estimation of the microvoids by 129Xe NMR spectroscopy has been consistent with the results of density and Xe sorption measurements.