Reactive processing with difunctional oligomers to compatibilize polymer blends

The addition of telechelic reactive oligomers to a polymer blend as a compatibilization process is investigated. The results presented in this paper suggest that this process provides a mechanism by which blocky copolymeric compatibilizers can be formed during processing, as demonstrated by the changes in the mechanical and optical properties of the phase separated polymer blends. The results also show, however, that the presence of unreacted smaller oligomers can act as a plasticizer in the blend and can thus detrimentally affect the mechanical properties of the blend if any remains after processing. Careful control of the mixing conditions or post processing thermal annealing may be required to minimize this potentially deleterious effect. However, the data suggest that this optimization is possible.