As part of a large government funded project, we are investigating ways to improve plastic recycling. A key theme in the project, focuses on the plasma treatment of polymers and its role in enhancing the miscibility of various polymer blends, thereby improving mechanical properties. The current study investigates the interfacial properties of plasma treated polymer blends using different rheological fitting models. The rheological analysis of the polymer blends is crucial in determining its interfacial adhesion and miscibility. Polymer blends exhibit different morphologies such as co-continuous, matrix-droplet and phase inversion. Depending on the phase morphology, the fitting models like Palierne's, Bousmina's or Lee & Park's models can be used to predict the interfacial properties of the polymer blends. The findings of this study will help to understand deeply on the interfacial properties and miscibility of various polymer blends.
Undergraduate
In this project students will prepare various blends of nylon and polypropylene and measure the viscosity vs. shear rate behaviour. Using Matlab, or any other programming language some standard models will be used to determine the interfacial properties of the polymer blend. In addition, scanning electron microscopy will be used to visualize the morphology of the blend and compared to the modelling work.
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CACM - Strength of Materials Lab (Newmarket 902 Lvl 3, Lab)