Search results for "Polymer blend"
showing 10 items of 219 documents
Radiation grafting functionalization of poly (vinylidene fluoride) to compatibilize its blends with polyolefin ionomers
1998
Blends of a crystalline vinylidene fluoride copolymer (PVDF) and a polyolefin ionomer were produced by melt mixing and characterized by a variety of techniques to examine the effect of increasing the level of salt formation on morphology. The PVDF component was also grafted with methacrylic acid by irradiating the polymer powder and subsequently treating it with an aqueous monomer solution. The effect of neutralizing the acid in both polymer components to produce the corresponding zinc salt was also investigated. Compatibilization was accomplished by the addition of zinc acetyl acetonate (ZnAcAc) to the mixture. This increased the viscosity of the polyolefin ionomer phase, comparable to tha…
Characterization of monopolymer blend of virgin and recycled polyamide 6
2002
It is a common industrial practice to blend virgin polymer with the same recycled polymer coming from plastic scraps that, in general, has not undergone relevant degradation. In this work, the characteristics of blends of virgin and recycled polyamide have been considered by changing the amount of recycled polymer and the presence of humidity and a stabilizer. Neither dry nor wet stabilized recycled polyamide samples show significant variations of the molecular weight, but the melt Newtonian viscosity of the blends are slightly different from that predicted by an additive rule, despite the same chemical nature of the two components. This holds true even more for the humid unstabilized sampl…
Modelling the hydrogen-bonding interactions in a copolymer/biodegradable homopolymer blend through excess functions
2008
A recent theoretical approach based on the coupling of both the Flory-Huggins (FH) and the Association Equilibria thermodynamic (AET) theories was modified and adapted to study the miscibility properties of a multi- component system formed by two polymers (a proton-donor and a proton-acceptor) and a proton-acceptor solvent, named copolymer(A)/solvent(B)/polymer(C). Compatibility between polymers was mainly attained by hydrogen- bonding between the hydroxyl group on the phenol unit of the poly(styrene-co-vinyl phenol) (PSVPh) and the car- bonyl group of the biodegradable and environmentally friendly poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB). However, the self- association of PSVPh and specific interacti…
Effect of adding new phosphazene compounds to poly(butylene terephthalate)/polyamide blends. II: Effect of different polyamides on the properties of …
2006
Poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) and a sample of polyamide have been melt processed in the presence of two new phosphazene compounds, namely 2,2-dichloro-4,4,6,6-bis[spyro(2',2"-dioxy-1',1"-biphenyl)]cyclotriphosphazene (2Cl-CP) and 2,2-bis(2-methoxy-4-methyleneoxy-phenoxy)-4,4,6,6-bis[spyro(2',2"-dioxy-1',1"-biphenyl)]cyclophosphazene (CP-2EPOX). The blends were prepared by using polyamide 6 (PA6) and polyamide 6,6 (PA66) in 25/75 and 75/25 w/w compositions by using a co-rotating twin-screw extruder. The materials have been completely characterized from a mechanical, rheological, and morphological point of view. The results indicate that the additives used cause an increase of the ruptur…
Effect of random copolymer additives on the interfacial tension between incompatible polymers
1998
Interfacial tensions γ were measured for mixtures of poly(methylphenylsiloxane) (4 kg/mol) and poly(dimethylsiloxane) (24 kg/mol) in the absence and in the presence of small amounts of the random copolymer poly(dimethylsiloxane-ran-methylphenylsiloxane) (89 mol-% of dimethylsiloxane units, 28 kg/mol) from 25 to 110°C. Approximately 1 wt.-% of the copolymer additive suffices to reduce γ from ca. 2.2 to 1.6 mN/m. The time dependence of the apparent γ value in the course of the attainment of equilibria also indicates surface acivity. The hypothesis is formulated that the efficiency of the random copolymer for a reduction of γ is bound to the condition that it is only sparingly soluble in both …
Nanoscale Blends between Immiscible Polymers via Simultaneous Non-Interfering Polymerisation
2005
An important topic in polymer science seeks to improve the performances of polymer blends using nanoscale phase segregation. Here, blends between polystyrene and polycaprolactone are realised by a chemical route. The non-interfering character of the radical polymerisation of styrene and the lanthanide halide initiated ring-opening polymerisation of caprolactone is assessed. The molecular weights range from 2 000 to 3 500 for polycaprolactone and up to 140 000 for polystyrene, with reasonable polydispersity indexes. From calorimetry measurements, it is shown that polystyrene and low molecular weight polycaprolactone are immiscible. The morphology of the blends between the two immiscible poly…
Modular approach toward bioactive fiber meshes carrying oligosaccharides
2010
A modular strategy toward (bio)functional nanofiber meshes by electrospinning is described. In contrast to commonly established, multistep protocols or complex spinning setups, a straightforward single-step procedure is investigated to obtain polymer nanofibers with pentafluorophenyl (Pfp)-activated esters on the surface. The aim was to electrospin, for the first time, poly(pentafluorophenyl methacrylate) (PPfpMA) and PPfpMA/poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) blends, resulting in reactive nanofibers with fiber surfaces that can be functionalized with suitable bioactive entities. While PPfpMA fibers are brittle the spinning of PCL/PPfpMA blends leads to improved mechanical stability of the obt…
Antibacterial chitosan-based blends with ethylene–vinyl alcohol copolymer
2010
Abstract This study reports for the first time about the formulation, morphology, water barrier and the antimicrobial activity of high and low molecular weight chitosonium-acetate based solvent-cast blends with ethylene–vinyl alcohol (EVOH) copolymers. The blends based on the low molecular weight chitosan grade showed enhanced phase morphology, transparency, enhanced water barrier properties, up to 86% water permeability reduction compared to pure chitosonium-acetate films, as well as excellent antimicrobial activity. When the fraction of low molecular weight chitosan exceeded the phase inversion in the blend, phase segregation became noticeable but good interfacial adhesion was still obser…
Closed-loop recycling. A case study of films for greenhouses
2010
Abstract The degradation undergone by plastic films used for greenhouse coverage is the main cause of the worsening of the processability, of the mechanical properties and of the durability of secondary materials obtained by their recycling. This means that this secondary material cannot be processed to produce films for the same applications (closed-loop recycling). In this work different strategies are proposed to improve the processability, some mechanical properties and the resistance to photo-oxidation of these secondary materials. In particular, homopolymer blends or multilayer films where the secondary material is used in combination with virgin polymer give the best results.