On the nature of polymer interfacesd and interphases

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Abstract
An abbreviated review of the current state of knowledge of polymer interfacial phenomena is given. Classical thermodynamics treats the interfacial zone (the interphase) as a “black box” and yields rigorous relationships among interfacial quantities. A recent reformulation of interphase thermodynamics, which eliminates the use of a Gibbs dividing surface, is shown to be an invaluable tool for investigating interfacial properties. Microscopic theories, such as the gradient theory, yield more details about what is in the black box, but the information is only approximate. The gradient theory has been used to: (1) relate the surface tension of a polymer liquid to its isothermal compressibility, (2) develop a quantitative theory of polymer liquid surface tension, and (3) determine the interfacial tension between two immiscible polymer liquids. The gradient theory will be shown to be in harmony with the microscopic theory of Helfand and co‐workers although the latter treats polymer interfaces from a completely different point of view.

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