Polymer blends heterogeneous degradation

Incompatible polymer blends are heterogeneous, but only the compatible blends (on a molecular scale) are homogeneous. Both the structure and the presence of different chemical species are important points in the degradation behavior of polymer blends and strongly differentiate the degradation of these polymeric systems from that of pure, homogeneous materials. 

All the discussed blends are incompatible, and their heterogeneous nature could be responsible for their peculiar degradation behavior. Since most polymers are immiscible, the influence of compatibility on the degradation behavior of polymer blends has not been extensively studied. Moreover, some contrasting results have been reported. Refer to Polyblends. 

In polymer blends, such broadening is usually attributed to two possible mechanisms concentration fluctuation or intrinsic mobility differences between the blend components 28). Within the context of the system at hand, at some point of degradation, one can consider a blend of chains of lengths that are so diverse as to create microstructural heterogeneity, in part because the solubility of chains depends on molecular weight and the effect is more pronounced at low... 

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