Thermomechanical Analysis and Processing of Polymer Blends

Abstract

IntroductionCombinations of standard polymers can help in the development of new materials; indeed, the blending of polymers represents a technological approach to providing materials with a full set of desirable and specific properties. During the past few decades there has been a growing interest in polymer blends for the following reasons:The quest for new materials. The successful use of these blends in the automotive industry and various other engineering applications. Improved processing capabilities, product uniformity, and the ability to make quick changes to the formulations.The reasonable performances of polymer blends has attracted economic interest in a variety of industries. The method by which polymer blends are characterized is very important from the point of their utility and added value. Such characterization may also help to provide an understanding of the behavior of any new materials developed using these polymers, including polymer blends. The characterization of polymer blends is also very important if the user industries need to define suitable quality aspects in order to obtain products that are of consistent quality. This would be especially important when the quality criteria depend on the proposed application of the blend. A careful examination of the various properties of a polymer blend not only provides details of its chemical composition and constituents, but would also be valuable for predicting the types of possible application. Knowledge of the blend structure and of its observed properties would also be helpful when developing appropriate modifications of polymer blends for various applications. Accordingly, the main aim of this chapter is to provide a systematic examination of the toughness characteristics of polymer blends, using novel methods. Additional aims are to show that the concepts of latex and online 393