Polymer blends are physical mixtures of two or more homopolymers or copolymers. This type of materials have wide spectrum of technological applications, and their properties are influenced, e.g., by the properties of single components and morphology of final material. The rheology of polymer blends is connected with the processing of polymer blends and is influenced by thermodynamics, morphology, and their evolution during testing....

This chapter seeks to address the interface location in the compatibilized polymer blends and paves the way for quantitative analysis of interface in terms of interfacial tension and interfacial adhesion to provide support for understanding the relationship between morphology and ultimate properties in the compatibilized polymer blends through the lens of interface. Since understanding and analysis of interfacial phenomena in the...

Reactive extrusion is a cost-effective and environmentally-friendly method to produce new materials with enhanced performance properties. At present, reactive extrusion allows in-situ polymerization, modification/functionalization of polymers or chemical bonding of two (or more) immiscible phases, which can be carried out on commonly used extrusion lines. Although reactive extrusion has been known for many years, its application...

This paper presents a water footprint assessment of polymers, polymer blends, composites, and biocomposites based on a standardized EUR-pallet case study. The water footprint analysis is based on life cycle assessment (LCA). The study investigates six variants of EUR-pallet production depending on the materials used. The system boundary included the production of each material and the injection molding to obtain a standardized...