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from the MSEL Annual Report 1997:  

ADVANCED PROCESSING PROGRAMS:  Polymer Blends and Processing

Contact:  Eric J. Amis (301) 975-6681

Applications of polymer blends and multiphase polymer materials continue to enjoy growth in terms of market share, consumption, and employment within the plastics industry. This growth challenges the flexibility of materials suppliers to meet customer needs with new materials and reduced product development cycles. The futility of trial and error approaches to address these challenges led industry to solicit measurement tools and methods of analysis which enhance their efforts to understand and control resin compatibility, phase morphology, and material properties. These demands have been further sharpened by the advent of new methods which provide better control in polymer synthesis and more precise definition of material components.

The Polymer Blends and Processing Program began with clear scientific goals to establish expertise in static and kinetic aspects of phase behavior in polymer blends, effects of shear flow on mixing and separating, and reactive processing to promote compatibility. The focus on these areas furthers program objectives by accelerating development of new measurement tools, including specialized light and neutron scattering methods, and by applying those tools to expand the knowledge base for thermodynamics and kinetics of polymer blends. Work extends to the effects of additives in a blend system, the relative behavior of blends in bulk compared to in thin films at interfaces, and the effects of complex thermal and mechanical histories on the phase separation. Fundamental advances in theory and modeling continue to guide and interpret the measurements.

Current research in the program has four areas of emphasis: (1) measurement technology for on-line characterization of temperature, phase behavior, and shear deformation; (2) shear effects on phase diagrams and phase morphology; (3) activity of additives, compatibilizers, and fillers; and (4) control of interfacial effects in blends and during processing. In each of these areas the program works with industry to develop measurement methods using tools of fluorescence, light scattering, neutron scattering and reflectivity, x-ray scattering, birefringence, microscopy (AFM, TEM, phase contrast), and rheology. Industrial collaborators include: Aristech Chemical, Dendritech, DSM, Dow Chemical, Dow Corning, DuPont, Dynisco, Exxon, Kodak, GE, Goodyear, Mobil, Raychem, Rohm and Haas, and 3M.

In order to promote communication and technology transfer with an even broader range of industrial partners the Polymer Blends and Processing Center has been established. The focus of the Center is efficient adoption of measurement technologies developed at NIST and assessment of new research directions for the Polymer Blends and Processing Program. The Center also promotes initiatives which cut across research projects to improve opportunities for industrial collaborators to use NIST measurement capabilities.