Characterization of Polymer Blends by FT-IR Imaging

One field of materials science for which FT-IR imaging has proved extraordinarily important, from both scientific and practical aspects, is that of polymer analysis and polymer physics. In order to illustrate the broad range of applicability of these disciplines with a special focus on polymer blends, some selected applications will be discussed in detail these range from phase separation and characterization of the state of order in biopolymer blends, to the use of polarized radiation to produce thickness and anisotropy images of inhomogeneously deformed polymer films. 

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Mixing of polymers is an important process in the polymer industry by combining the strength of different polymers through blending, new products with desirable physical properties can be produced [2]. FT-IR imaging with a micro-ATR objective has been used to study the effect of a compatibilizer on the mixing of two immiscible polymers, namely polystyrene (PS) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE). The compatibilizer used in this study is a triblock copolymer of polystyrene-f -poly(ethylene-butylene)-f)-polystyrene (SEES). The blends are prepared with a micro-extruder, which allows small amounts of the materials to be blended [2]. The two polymers are easily characterized by their specific absorption bands at 1492 and 1450 cm for PS and the band at 1466 cm for LDPE. 

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