Thermoplastic-Thermoset Nanostructured Polymer Blends

Polymer blends are presently attracting both scientific and industrial interest because of their potentials as economical alternatives to more expensive engineering polymers and non-polymeric materials. More importantly, nanostructure polymer blends could lead to the design and production of low-cost materials with valuable properties in comparison to conventional polymer blends. However, thermoplastics/thermosets blends are problematic because such blends naturally tend to phase separation on the macroscopic scale. Therefore, controlling the phase behavior and morphology by reducing phase size and improving interfacial adhesion become key factors in converting these immiscible blends into useful polymeric products. This can be achieved by adding some copolymers as compatibilizers. Also, addition of nanoparticles can reduce interfacial tension and improve miscibility between polymers and thus have significant effect on phase behavior of polymer blends. Some of the methods of blending are melt extrusion, higher shear processing, physical blending, and reactive blending.