High performance polymer alloys and blends for special applications

Abstract

This chapter discusses blends that are based on the use of high performance polymers. Both miscible and immiscible mixtures of such polymers are discussed and advantages that are provided by both types of blends are highlighted. It is pointed out that due primarily to the molecular conformation of high performance polymers the criteria for obtaining miscible mixtures of these type of polymers are different than for more flexible type polymers and the influence of the entropic energy of mixing is emphasized. The continued need for in-depth structure-property studies of blends that contain high performance polymers is stressed so that a better understanding of the molecular features that lead to miscibility can be obtained. In addition, the requirement of improved theoretical models that explicitly consider the molecular conformation of the two polymers in a mixture is discussed in detail.