Reactive Nanoparticles Compatibilized Immiscible Polymer Blends: Synthesis of Reactive SiO2 with Long Poly(methyl methacrylate) Chains and the in Situ Formation of Janus SiO2 Nanoparticles Anchored Exclusively at the Interface

Amphiphilic Janus nanosheets by grafting reactive rubber brushes for reinforced rubber materials

An amphiphilic Janus nanosheet with different reactive rubber brushes on two opposite sides can simultaneously strengthen and toughen rubber blends.

Rheology⁻Microstructure Relationships in Melt-Processed Polylactide/Poly(vinylidene Fluoride) Blends

In this study, small amplitude oscillatory shear tests are applied to investigate the rheological responses of polylactide/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PLA/PVDF) blends and to correlate their viscoelastic properties with the morphological evolutions during processing. Although the analysis of the elastic moduli reveals some changes as a function of blend composition and processing time, the weighted relaxation spectra are shown to be more useful in detecting changes. The analysis demonstrates that when PVDF, i.e., the more viscous phase, is the matrix, the blend relaxes cooperatively and only a single relaxation peak is observed. By contrast, blends with highly concentrated morphologies do not fully relax, showing instead an upward increasing trend at longer times. This outcome is attributed to the broad distribution of highly concentrated droplets with a high probability of droplet⁻droplet contacts. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) reveals that crystalline segmental motions attributed to the α-relaxation of PVDF at around 100 °C are restricted by the highly concentrated morphology of the 50/50 PLA/PVDF blend processed for 10 min. Relaxation analyses of the blends via dynamic oscillatory shear tests and DMA are shown to be powerful tools for investigating small microstructural changes in immiscible polymer blends.

Onset Reduction and Stabilization of Cocontinuous Morphology in Immiscible Polymer Blends by Snowmanlike Janus Nanoparticles

Interfacial jamming of monolayer nanoparticles is often required to kinetically arrest the cocontinuous morphology, which is not in favor of achieving high efficiency at low particle contents. In this paper, we find that the shape asymmetry of the snowmanlike Janus particles (JPs) has significant influence on the cocontinuous morphology of polymer blends under the melt-mixing process. The addition of 0.9 vol % snowmanlike JPs can almost have the onset concentration of cocontinuity in immiscible blends, which is much lower than the apparent interfacial jamming concentration. In addition, JPs show superior ability to stabilize the continuous morphology during annealing at high temperatures. The interfacial activity of asymmetric JPs is due to the decrease in the radius of the jamming curvature in the interfacial region as the shape asymmetry of the snowmanlike JPs increases. This result implies a general strategy to prepare Janus nanoparticles for a highly effective interfacial modification agent at low contents, which can induce the dispersed-phase continuity and suppress the coarsening of cocontinuous morphology simultaneously.

Enhanced Interfacial Adhesion by Reactive Carbon Nanotubes: New Route to High-Performance Immiscible Polymer Blend Nanocomposites with Simultaneously Enhanced Toughness, Tensile Strength, and Electrical Conductivity

Physically anchoring carbon nanotubes (CNTs) onto the interface of immiscible polymer blends has been extensively reported; however, enhancement of physical properties of the blends has seldom been achieved. Herein, we used CNTs with reactive epoxide groups and long poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) tails as a thermodynamic compatibilizer for immiscible poly vinylidene fluoride/poly l-lactide (PVDF/PLLA) blends. The CNTs acted as an efficient compatibilizer and bridged the two phases through physical entanglement and chemical reaction. The sea-island structure of the blend transformed into a bicontinuous structure for CNT contents greater than 3 wt %. The mechanical properties, including ductility and tensile strength, thermal properties, and electrical conductivities were all enhanced by the CNTs compatibilizer. This strategy thermodynamically compatibilized by reactive nanofillers paves the way for advanced blend nanocomposites.