Thermal Analysis in Polymer Blends

Abstract

Polymer blending is a technique of interest that has captured the attention of numerous research groups since the twentieth century to the present day. Pioneering studies in the development of high-performance polymer electrolytes has mainly been focused on the use of single types of preformed polymers, such as poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC). However, as the properties of the homopolymer-based electrolytes were unable to support the applications of high-conducting electronic devices in many ways, an alternative approach was sought which involved the blending of two or more preformed polymers of different natures to form an ionic conducting matrix [1,2].During subsequent years, the conducting matrix underwent development by employing copolymers synthesized from mixtures of monomers, and consequently the formulation of brand new polymers via the polymerization process captured the attention of many research groups. Unfortunately, however, most synthetic efforts cannot guarantee the creation of polymers that will meet the entire needs of research groups in terms of electrical, structural, mechanical, and thermal properties.The polymerization process is not straightforward, and cannot be easily be performed without a full knowledge of the field of polymer synthesis. Indeed, a large number of contributing factors must be considered before attempting to synthesize copolymers, that include: (i) the type of monomers and compositions to be used; (ii) selection of the medium; (iii) the temperature of the synthesizing process; and (iv) the time required for synthesis to be completed. The problem persists however that, although excellent formulations can be prepared by optimizing the conditions of synthesis, the synthesized polymers may not possess all of the desired properties.Thus, the technique of polymer blending has been developed as a more convincing and practicable method to create high-performance polymer electrolytes membrane with known properties. Moreover, the polymer blends will possess

A chitosan‐hyaluronic acid hydrogel scaffold for periodontal tissue engineering

“…Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA; TA Instruments, Q500) was performed to understand how much stability was imparted to the hydrogel by crosslinking the S‐CS amino and A‐HA aldehyde groups as well as to verify the influence of sterilization on the hydrogel scaffolds’ thermal stability. From TGA it was possible to determine not only the materials’ thermal degradation temperatures ( T d ), but also confirm the presence of the different polymer components in a blend, and verify blend miscibility . TGA data were obtained from the freeze‐dried hydrogel scaffold samples by scanning the temperature range 25–600°C with a rate change of 10°C/min in a N 2 atmosphere.…”

“…From TGA it was possible to determine not only the materials' thermal degradation temperatures (T d ), but also confirm the presence of the different polymer components in a blend, and verify blend miscibility. 23 TGA data were obtained from the freeze-dried hydrogel scaffold samples by scanning the temperature range 25-6008C with a rate change of 108C/min in a N 2 atmosphere.…”