Contribution of Coalescence to Microfibril Formation in Polymer Blends during Cold Drawing

Conductivity of microfibrillar polymer-polymer composites with CNT-loaded microfibrils or compatibilizer: A comparative study

“…However, interactions between functional groups on the surface of the MWCNTs and the MA groups of the compatibilizer can fix the CNTs within the compatibilizer phase [34]. At the same time, the compatibilizer inhibits the formation of microfibrils [36] as demonstrated also by the results of the current study. In Figure 4 one can see well defined nanofibrils (Figure 4a) if the MFC material is prepared without the use of compatibilizer.…”

“…At the same time, as noted above, the use of compatibilizer during the MFC manufacturing is not recommendable since it has a negative effect on the microfibrils formation via preventing the coalescence of the starting spherical particles during the drawing stage [36]. For this reason it had to be checked firstly the recommendation given in ref.…”

“…For this reason it had to be checked firstly the recommendation given in ref. [36], namely, to add the compatibilizer to the blend only after the drawing stage and subject the new blend to a reprocessing including re-extrusion at lower temperature and redrawing. This reprocessing requires an additional checking regarding the safe existence of the microfibrils created during the first processing.…”

“…However, in most of these cases the two polymers have weak interfacial adhesion, resulting in poor mechanical properties of the blend. This can be improved to a certain extent by applying the concept of microfibrillar composites (MFCs) [36][37][38][39]. Microfibrillar composites are prepared from immiscible polymer blends, where the reinforcement is provided by fibrils of the minor component [37,38].…”

Poly(L-lactic acid)/poly(glycolic acid) microfibrillar polymer-polymer composites: Preparation and viscoelastic properties

“…Thus fibrils with aspect ratios up to 250 were created. This is explained by coalescence of the particles during drawing, a phenomenon known to occur during MFC creation [19]. The poor fibrillation in PLLA.PGA.20 during drawing is thought to be a result of the greater amount of matrix separating PGA particles reducing the probability of them coalescing during drawing.…”