Blends of linear and branched polyethylenes

We employ rheological measurements of polyethylene blends in the melt and solid state, together with thermal analysis, to infer phase behavior. Partial‐miscibility in the melt is characterized by use of the double‐reptation model to define the complex modulus of the continuous phase for input into the emulsion model for the blend; this approach introduces a new fitting parameter, the fraction of the minor component contained in the continuous phase. The results on binary systems suggest the use of HDPE as a compatibilizer for LLDPE/LDPE blends, apparently creating a fully miscible ternary system.