Polymer Blend Compatibilization: Basic Principles and Application to PVC

摘要

Over the last twenty-five years the use of block and graft copolymers to control the compatibility of polymer blends has become an important area of technology. These materials act as polymeric surfactants at the interface of a multiphase polymer mixture to control phase size, reduce interfacial tension, and to enhance the adhesion between the phases, In this talk some of the basic "rules of thumb" on the efficiency of various polymer architectures to act as compatibilizers will be given. This will be done both from the perspective of theory and experiment, with many illustrations of these principles from both the open and patent literature and emphasizing studies on PVC blends. The effects of compatibilizers on the physical properties of the blends, especially mechanical but also transport, will be covered.