Can random copolymers serve as effective polymeric compatibilizers?

Engineering Styrenic Blends with Poly(lactic acid)

“…A similar trend is observed for PLA/HIPS, but the increase with fracture toughness is much broader with increasing SMMA concentration. This phenomenon can be understood within the model proposed by Lee et al, where the addition of the random copolymer initially reinforces the interfaces between the two blends. Since the copolymer contains random sequences of monomers, they showed that only a thin layer corresponding to a few polymer chains was sufficient to reduce the interfacial tension between two homopolymers.…”

“…Numerous studies have shown that random copolymers, composed of two chemically different monomers, A and B, will naturally segregate to the interfaces of immiscible binary blends of the corresponding polymers, A and B, where the copolymer may fully encapsulate the minor phase . Hobbs et al introduced a model to explain this phenomenon; in tertiary polymer blends, when third polymer C is added to an immiscible polymer blend of polymer A and polymer B, the spreading coefficient λ CA is defined as where γ AB is the interfacial tension between polymers A and B, γ CA is the interfacial tension between polymers A and C, γ CB is the interfacial tension between polymers C and B.…”

Core–shell structure and segregation effects in composite droplet polymer blends

“…core, as shown in Figure 6c. Lee et al 1997 also demonstrated the presence of a high level of shell subinclusion material in a highly viscous core of the composite droplet. Luzi-Ž .…”

The Quest for Contrast in Digital Images of Micro-/Nanostructured Polymer Blends before and after CO2Foaming: General Interest of Directional Diffusive Filtering for Edge Enhancement

“…More generally, the efficiency of the method shall depend upon the upstream steps determining the initial level of contrast: on the one hand, the contrast method, e.g., RuO 4 vapor stain, RuO 4 liquid stain, OsO 4 staining, PTA liquid stain, or n -hexane etching, ,,− , and on the other hand, the imaging method (e.g., SEM, TEM, energy filtered TEM, atomic force microscopy, or confocal scanning laser microscopy), whose choice is material dependent. In any case, the proposed method of interface–interphase enhancement, operating downstream in the contrast formation chain, is far less material-dependent than the upstream staining and imaging stages.…”