Nanostructured polymer blends have attracted significant attention recently. In this paper, the poly(lactic acid) (PLLA)/ethylene-co-acrylic ester-co-glycidyl methacrylate (E-AE-GMA) rubber (80/20) nanoalloys and microalloys were fabricated by melt blending and the structure-property relationships of the prepared alloys were investigated. In the nanoalloys, the rubber domains are homogeneously dispersed in the PLLA matrix with the overall domain size of <100 nm. Such nanoalloys exhibit not only high transparency in the visible region, but also significantly improved ductility and impact strength, compared with neat PLLA. Moreover, the nanodomains in the PLLA matrix enhance the crystallization rate of PLLA drastically. The overall crystallization rate of the PLLA nanoalloy is even higher than that of the PLLA nucleated by talc. In contrast, the PLLA microalloy has a phase structure with the size of the rubber domains being in the micrometer to submicrometer scale. The microalloy is opaque and displays almost the same tensile strength and modulus as the nanoalloy, but much higher impact strength than the nanoalloy.

An anisotropic swelling multi-layer wound dressing with vertically orientated water absorptive particles induced by an electric-field.

a b s t r a c tIn order to have a fundamental understanding of the temporal evolution of physical characteristics of Polyetherimide (PEI) film and processing parameters, real time measurements are essential. Because drying and stretching processes of solvent-cast polymer film are complex, off line measurements are unable to reveal the temporally varying detailed information, especially for fast "transient events". To solve the problem, two measurement systems, one for drying that tracks real time thickness, weight, surface temperature, in-plane and out-of-plane birefringence of solution casting film, and another for uniaxial stretching that tracks real time true stress, true strain and birefringence of stretched film are used. By using these systems, we are able to systematic investigate the development of optical anisotropy through in and out of plane birefringence monitoring drying of solution cast films and their mechanooptical behavior during stretching, and quantify the influence of solvent N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP) on these relationships.