Blending technology

The relationship between the physical properties of a blend and those of its components can depend on the thermodynamic interaction between the components and many other factors. Some generalizations are possible, but exceptions are common and fundamental understanding for some properties remains incomplete in spite of the central importance of this issue in blend technology. 

For standard or proprietary polymer additive blends there is the need for analytical certification of the components. Blend technology has been developed for two- to six-component polymer additive blend systems, with certified analytical results [81]. Finally, there exist physical collections of reference additive samples, both public [82] and proprietary. The Dutch Food Inspection Service reference collection comprises 100 of the most important additives used in food contact plastics [83-85]. Reference compounds of a broad range of additives used in commercial plastics and rubber formulations are generally also available from the major additive manufacturers. These additive samples can be used as reference or calibration standards for chromatographic or spectroscopic analysis. DSM Plastics Reference Collection of Additives comprises over 1400 samples. 

McIntyre, Fred Amend, R.J. and Smith, M. Blending Technology for Red Phosphorus Smoke Ccmoositions. U.S. 

The future direction of polyester R D efforts is likely to involve further progress in polyester synthesis given the wide range of potential monomer combinations, new blending technology and the use of advanced functional additives such as nanoclay reinforcements, reactive impact modifiers, anti-hydrolysis agents and chain extenders. 

Blend systems are introduced by a timely review by Donald Paul and Joel Barlow focused on blend technology. This review includes a discussion of the increasingly important topic of polymer miscibility in engineering thermoplastics. The 15 papers that follow present a variety of approaches to polymer-blend morphology study, fracture and defor-... 

Smith D (1998) North American MDF blending technology. In Bradfield J (ed). Proceedings 1998 Resin and Blending Seminar. Composite Panel Association, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 71-8... 

Several groups of fillers are very important in this sector. They include reinforcing fillers, fillers which may improve heat distortion temperature, and flame retarding additives. Recently, major improvements have been achieved in blending technology and in the incorporation of reinforcing fillers. The low weight of laptop computers is one of the results of these developments. When computer cases were first produced, the thickness of the case wall was 6 mm. Now it barely reaches 2 mm. 

There has been increasing interest in recent years in using incoherent electronic excitation transport as a probe of molecular interactions in solid state polymer systems. The macroscopic properties of such systems arise from the microscopic interaction of the individual polymer chains. The bulk properties of polymer blends are critically dependent on the mixing of blend components on a molecular level. Through the careful adjustment of the composition of blends technological advances in the engineering of polymer materials have been made. In order to understand these systems more fully, it is desirable to investigate the interactions... 

In this introductory chapter the basic information on polymer blends (with a special emphasis on the commercial alloys) is presented in the sequence (i) a historical perspective on the polymer science and technology, (ii) polymeric structures and nomenclature, (iii) fundamental concepts in polymer blend science, and (iv) evolution of polymer blends technology. 

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