Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
to the possible trapping of copolymer chains at the interface, which can lead to
stationary states of partial equilibrium. The in-situ formation of copolymers by the
interfacial reaction of functionalized homopolymers is also discussed.
Keywords Polymer interfaces
Interfacial tension
Compatibilizers
Interfacial
partitioning
Emulsifying agents
Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
2 Methods of Measuring Interfacial Tension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
3 Interfacial Tension in Binary Polymer Blends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
3.1 Experimental Studies of Polymer Interfacial Tension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
3.2 Theories of Polymer Polymer Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
4 Copolymers as Emulsifying Agents in Polymer Blends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
4.1 Copolymer Localization at the Polymer Blend Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
4.2 Experimental Studies on the Effect of Additives on Polymer Polymer Interfacial
Tension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
4.3 Theories of the Interfacial Behavior in Homopolymer/
Homopolymer/Copolymer Blends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
5 Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
1
Introduction
The increasing need of the modern world to create materials with new fascinating
properties and better performance, that are more easily processable and, hopefully,
more environmentally friendly has forced polymer scientists to face the challenge
of developing new macromolecular systems with such characteristics. Realistically,
however, industry would prefer to keep using the traditional commodity polymers
because of the accumulated know-how and the significant investments made over
the years. Between those two trends, scientists have found a way to satisfy both
demands. Improving the performance of polymeric materials for many important
scientific and industrial applications can be achieved by mixing different compo-
nents with complementary properties. Polymer blending is a high-stakes game in
the plastics industry, whereby basic resins are manipulated into becoming new
polymer systems with properties beyond those available with the individual resin
components [
1
,
2
].
The development of compounds and blends of polymers dates back almost two
centuries to the early rubber and plastics industry, when rubber was mixed with
substances ranging from pitch [
3
] to gutta percha [
4
]. As each new plastic has been
developed, its blends with previously existing materials have been explored. Thus,
synthetic rubbers, in the early period of the plastics industry, were mixed into
natural rubber and found to produce superior performance in tire components.
Polystyrene (PS) was blended with natural and synthetic rubbers after its commer-
cialization, and this led to high impact polystyrenes (HIPS), which now hold a
