The ever-increasing demand for high performance
polymers has shifted the focus of recent studies in the area of polymer science from the development of new homopolymers to the
development of new blends. As development costs for new homopolymers reach upward of $10 million (1990) with an additional $100
million for pilot plant costs in the development and commercialization steps there is also an economic incentive to develop new
blends. Significant reduction in cost is possible through the dilution of high cost polymers with low cost polymers or fillers
and the ease of implementation of new materials into existing processes. Although polymer blending is intuitively a simple idea
of combining two or more different advantageous properties in a single system, it is not always successful or readily feasible
due to the inherent incompatibility between polymers to be blended.
Work is being done to improve and/or enhance the properties of base polymers such as polypropylene and polyethylene through addition of
other polymeric materials including nylon, ethyl vinyl alcohol copolymers, ethylene-propylene elastomers (EPM & EPDM) and styrene
based elastomers. Materials are blended in a twin screw extruder, and collected as fibers/films for mechanical testing and
characterization. Compatibilizers, such as PP-g-MA and PP-g-AA are often used to enhance the interface between blend components
and ultimately improve the physical properties. Compatibilized polymer blends using nanoclay are also extensively studied in our
laboratory. Mechanical and morphological properties of blends are also examined.
Recent research efforts were sponsored by Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Atofina, Dow Chemical, and PPG Industries.
For compatibilized blending, please also refer to our advanced grafting technology.
The ever-increasing demand for high performance
polymers has shifted the focus of recent studies in the area of polymer science from the development of new homopolymers to the
development of new blends. As development costs for new homopolymers reach upward of $10 million (1990) with an additional $100
million for pilot plant costs in the development and commercialization steps there is also an economic incentive to develop new
blends. Significant reduction in cost is possible through the dilution of high cost polymers with low cost polymers or fillers
and the ease of implementation of new materials into existing processes. Although polymer blending is intuitively a simple idea
of combining two or more different advantageous properties in a single system, it is not always successful or readily feasible
due to the inherent incompatibility between polymers to be blended. 
Work is being done to improve and/or enhance the properties of base polymers such as polypropylene and polyethylene through addition of
other polymeric materials including nylon, ethyl vinyl alcohol copolymers, ethylene-propylene elastomers (EPM & EPDM) and styrene
based elastomers. Materials are blended in a twin screw extruder, and collected as fibers/films for mechanical testing and
characterization. Compatibilizers, such as PP-g-MA and PP-g-AA are often used to enhance the interface between blend components
and ultimately improve the physical properties. Compatibilized polymer blends using nanoclay are also extensively studied in our
laboratory. Mechanical and morphological properties of blends are also examined.