Thermally induced phase separation in concentrated lower critical solution temperature (LCST) blends of poly[(α-methyl styrene)-co-acrylonitrile]/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PαMSAN/PMMA) in presence of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) with different surface characteristics (~NH2 functionalized and polyethylene modified) was monitored by modulated differential scanning calorimetry, melt rheolog...

In this study, poly carbonate (PC) and poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) were reactive melt-blended under two different conditions to produce PC/PET copolymers. For each condition, samples were taken at specified mixing times representative a specific structure of copolymers and each one employed to physically compatibilize a PC/PET blend with a fixed composition. Reactive blending and copoly...

Melt free-radical grafting reactions between ethylene-propylene-dieneterpolymer (EPDM) and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) were investigated in a batch mixer (170°C, 60rpm). Effect of dicumylperoxide (DCP) initiator and GMA functionalizing monomer concentrations was studied on the grafted EPDM characteristics. Titration results indicated an increase in the graft degree (GD) and gel content (GC) val...

– We consider microand macro-phase separation in blends of AB and BC flexible diblock copolymers. We show that, depending on architecture, a number of phase diagram topologies are possible. Microphase separation or macrophase separation can occur, and there are a variety of possible Lifshitz points. Because of the rich parameter space, Lifshitz points of multiple order are possible. We demonstr...

Dense CO2 can be used as an environmentally-benign polymer processing medium because of its liquid-like densities and gas-like mass transfer properties.In this work, polymer bio-blends of polycarbonate (PC), a biocompatible polymer, and polycaprolactone (PCL), a biodegradable polymer were prepared. Dense CO2 was used as a reaction medium for the melt-phase PC polymerization in the presence of d...

We propose efficient pseudospectral numerical schemes for solving the self-consistent, mean-field equations for inhomogeneous polymers. In particular, we introduce a robust class of semi-implicit methods that employ asymptotic small scale information about the nonlocal density operators. The relaxation schemes are further embedded in a multilevel strategy resulting in a method that can cut down...

In this work, rheological properties of poly(lactic acid) (PLA), low density polyethylene (LDPE) polymer blends were investigated in the molten state. The experiments were carried on a capillary rheometer. The effect of shear stress, temperature and blending ratio on the flow activation energy at a constant shear stress and melt viscosity of the blends are described. The results showed that the...

The aim of this investigation was to develop a novel multifunctional co-processed diluent consisting of microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel PH 102), crospovidone (Polyplasdone XL) and polyethylene glycol 4000. Colloidal silicon dioxide and talc were also incorporated as minor components in the diluent to improve tableting properties. Melt granulation was adopted for preparation of co-processed d...