Surface Tension and Phase Behavior in a Dynamically-Linked Polymer Network

Compatibilizing immiscible polymer blends remains a challenge, and a significant barrier in the path to a better recycling process. Recent computational and experimental work has demonstrated dynamic crosslinks (short-lived inter-species bonds) as a viable agent for compatibilizing such blends. We implement a Metropolis-based MC algorithm for creating reversible dynamic bonds with the LAMMPS molecular dynamics simulator, which allows us to investigate the impact of dynamic crosslinking on phase behavior and surface tension. We find that the presence of dynamic cross-linkers decreases both the critical temperature for mixing and surface tension. We also show that surface tension collapses to a master curve determined by the number of crosslinks between different polymer types.