Reactive Polymer Blending

Frontmatter

1. Introduction

Abstract

The practice of blending polymers is as old as the polymer industry itself with early examples involving natural rubber. However, through the first half of the 1900s the greatest progress in the industry was in the development of a wide range of different polymers. This was based on the new understandings of polymer synthesis and the development and commercialization of economical manufacturing methods for a range of monomers. With a few exceptions most of the major commodity and engineering polymers in current use were being manufactured in the 1950s.

Warren Ε. Baker, Guo-Hua Hu

2. Types of Reactive Polymers Used in Blending

Abstract

There is intense commercial interest in multiphase polymer blends or alloys because of the potential opportunities for combining the attractive features of several materials into one, or to improve deficient characteristics of a particular material including recycled plastics [1-9]. However, most blends are immiscible and have poor physical properties compared to their components. This problem is rooted in the lack of favorable interaction between blend phases.

N.C. Liu, H. Huang

3. Reactive Blending with Immiscible Functional Polymers: Molecular, Morphological, and Interfacial Aspects

Abstract

Reactive blending forms the major part of the compatibilization activity in the field of polymer blends. The in-situ formation of a graft or a block copolymer via a suitable chemical reaction, and the ability of the in-situ formed copolymer to improve the compatibility between immiscible polymer pairs are the basic concepts used in reactive blending.

G. Groeninckx, C. Harrats, S. Thomas

4. Key Role of Structural Features of Compatibilizing Polymer Additives in Reactive Blending

Abstract

Polymer blending is a very convenient technique to produce materials of improved property/cost performances. Since most polymers are immiscible, polyblends usually have to be compatibilized in order to improve the poor mechanical performances associated with gross phase separation and low interfacial adhesion. Excellent reviews have been published on the compatibilization of multiphase polyblends [1—11].

R. Jerome, C. Pagnoulle

5. Morphological and Rheological Aspects of Reactive Polymer Blending

Abstract

Commercial polymer blending operations generally begin with the components in pellet or powder form with particle sizes of approximately 3 and 0.2 mm respectively. Target morphologies for the final product often require domain sizes in the range of 0.1 to 10 μηι in order to achieve superior performance characteristics.

Chris E. Scott, Nicole D.B. Lazo

6. Reactive Blending in Screw Extruders

Abstract

By reactive blending, in situ compatibilization, or reactive compatibilization, it is generally meant that the copolymer necessary for compatibilizing an immiscible polymer blend is formed in-situ during melt blending. The ultimate objective of such an operation is to obtain a stabilized multiphasic polymeric material with desired properties.

G.-H. Hu

7. Extrusion Equipment for Reactive Blending

Abstract

The major equipment for manufacturing various kinds of polymer alloys is a screw extruder. Screw extruders are practically classified into single and twin screw types. A single screw extruder is used mainly for diversified thermoplastics processing, for example in blow molding, film and pipe extrusion, and injection molding. On the other hand, a twin screw extruder is generally used for blending and controlling the microstructure of a polymer alloy, and polymerization such as grafting [1-4]. Further, a reciprocating single screw extruder can be classified into the same categories as a twin screw extruder from the point of the mutual interaction between screw flight and barrel.

Tadamoto Sakai

8. Rubber Toughening of Polyamides by Reactive Blending

Abstract

Polyamides are among the commercially most significant polymers in the crystalline engineering thermoplastics field because of their high performance characteristics such as high melting points, good mechanical strength and ductility, as well as their excellent resistance to solvents, fatigue, and abrasion.

Kris Akkapeddi

9. Compatibilization Using Low Molecular Weight Reactive Additives

Abstract

Most polymers are immiscible with each other. When two or more immiscible polymers are melt blended, without any planned compatibilization process, the components of the blend form different phases, which are separated from each other in the final product. This phase separation is due to the high surface tension between the immiscible polymer components in the interface region. The compatibilization of an immiscible polymer blend relies on the reduction of this interfacial tension.

Yi-Jun Sun, Warren E. Baker

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