Scott Danielsen of the Rubinstein lab extends mean-field equilibrium theory for reversible network formation due to heterotypic pairwise interactions in mixtures of associative polymers via a weak inhomogeneity expansion to account for spatial fluctuations due to chemical incompatibility. He shows that the chemical incompatibility between A and B polymers drives a competition between associative and segregative phase separation. The reactive blending of such multifunctional polymers presents the opportunity to envision novel properties, processing conditions, and applications accessible by the tunable production of supramolecular complexes, mesophases, and multicomponent polymer networks.
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