Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) spectroscopic imaging techniques are introduced to determine the structure of protein-based polymer blends, using the silk fibroin/polyethylene oxide (SF/PEO) blend as a model material. We demonstrate that FTIR and STXM imaging techniques provide complementary chemical sensitivities, resolution ranges and sample...

Blends of polypropylene (PP) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) may contribute to make recycling more economically attractive. The aim of this work was to make PP/LDPE blends (0/100, 25/75, 50/50, 75/25 and 100/0 w/w) via injection molding carried out under various injection temperatures and to evaluate their tensile and impact properties. The blends yielded tensile stress–strain curves very d...

Herein, we propose a new strategy of maskless lithographic approach to fabricate micro/nano-porous structures by phase separation of polystyrene (PS)/Polyethylene glycol (PEG) immiscible polymer blend. Its simple process only involves a spin coating of polymer blend followed by a development with deionized water rinse to remove PEG moiety, which provides an extremely facile, low-cost, easily ac...

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) has a linear structure with very little or no branching and possesses a high degree of crystallinity, but it is difficult to process. Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) however has a chaotic structure with short and long branches and is easy to process. Blending of polyethylenes (PEs) is a common industrial practice. The principal reasons behind the blending of PEs...

Blending with ethylene-based flexible polymers such as polyethylene (PE) is one of the strategies to toughen poly(lactic acid) (PLA), an inherently brittle biodegradable plastic enjoying growing demands worldwide. Interfacial tension plays a crucial role in blend formulation. Yet several literature reports on PE/PLA interfacial contradict each other, giving ~5 mN/m and ~11 mN/m. In this work, w...

Ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene/high-density polyethylene (UHMWPE/HDPE) blends prepared using polyethylene glycol PEG as the processing aid and hydroxyapatite (HA) as the reinforcing filler were found to be highly processable using conventional melt blending technique. It was demonstrated that PEG reduced the melt viscosity of UHMWPE/HDPE blend significantly, thus improving the extrudab...