Peculiar morphological transitions induced by nanoparticles in polymeric blends: retarded relaxation or altered interfacial tension?

Abstract

Nanoparticles of different shapes can induce peculiar morphologies in binary polymer blends depending on their position. It is envisaged that the increased yield stress of the filled phase slows down the relaxation resulting in arresting the peculiar morphologies which otherwise is thermodynamically unfavourable due to the increased interfacial area. This essentially means that the highly irregular structures can be preserved even without altering the interfacial tension between the phases! On the other hand, in the case of interfacially adsorbed particles, the resulting solid-like interface can also preserve the irregular structures. These phenomenal transitions in filled blends are very different from the classical copolymer compatibilized polymer blends. Moreover, these irregular structures can further pave way in designing conducting polymer blends involving conducting nanoparticles and revisiting our understanding of the concept of double percolation!

Electrical Breakdown Properties of Clay-Based LDPE Blends and Nanocomposites

“…This type of microstructure is well-known for its tunable and substantial combination of functional and structural properties but is hard to achieve [22]. It has been well-established that nanoparticles can be adopted to stabilize the morphology of immiscible blends [23][24][25]. However, this approach has not been fully employed to discover the potential improvements in electrical breakdown properties of polymers.…”

Effects of processing conditions on hybrid filler selective localization, rheological, and thermal properties of poly(ε‐caprolactone)/poly(lactic acid) blends

“…Many factors have been studied to explain the nanoparticles' localization in immiscible polymer blends. Among such, the thermodynamic factors that account for the components' interfacial tension; the processing conditions including the mixing sequence, temperature, time, and shear rate; rheological factors such as the polymers' viscosity and elasticity; and the nanoparticles' intrinsic characteristics, such as surface aspect ratio and functionalization …”

“…[1][2][3][4] At the same time, the nanoparticles' selective localization is also a relevant parameter in the determination of all subsequent changes that their addition can cause in the nanocomposites' properties and morphology. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Many factors have been studied to explain the nanoparticles' localization in immiscible polymer blends. Among such, the thermodynamic factors that account for the components' interfacial tension; the processing conditions including the mixing sequence, temperature, time, and shear rate; rheological factors such as the polymers' viscosity and elasticity; and the nanoparticles' intrinsic characteristics, such as surface aspect ratio and functionalization.…”

“…Among such, the thermodynamic factors that account for the components' interfacial tension; the processing conditions including the mixing sequence, temperature, time, and shear rate; rheological factors such as the polymers' viscosity and elasticity; and the nanoparticles' intrinsic characteristics, such as surface aspect ratio and functionalization. 5,7,8,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] The factors responsible for the nanoparticles' localization in ternary systems and the changes in those systems' morphology and properties have been extensively studied. However, there are only a few works on quaternary systems (hybrid fillers in an immiscible polymer blend) in the literature, which do not systematically study the factors responsible for the nanoparticles' localization and the influence of different localization on the properties of these quaternary systems and their influence on the nanocomposites' properties.…”

Compatibilization and ultraviolet blocking of PLA/PCL blends via interfacial localization of titanium dioxide nanoparticles

“…However, the nanoparticle localization depends on various factors, such as thermodynamics and kinetic effects, rheological properties, and nanoparticle geometry. In general, a competition among those factors occurs for the definition of the nanoparticles’ localization in a polymer blend …”