Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #136769
Title: POLYMER BLEND INTERFACIAL TENSION BY THE IMBEDDED FIBER RETRACTION METHOD

Author
item Biresaw, Girma
item Carriere, Craig

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/1/2003
Publication Date: 4/1/2003
Citation: BIRESAW, G., CARRIERE, C.J. POLYMER BLEND INTERFACIAL TENSION BY THE IMBEDDED FIBER RETRACTION METHOD. S. G. Pandalai, Editor. Research Signpost, Kerala, India. Recent Research Development in Applied Polymer Science. 2003.p.341-362.

Interpretive Summary: One of the methods of increasing the utilization of agricultural products such as corn, soybean and wheat is to convert it into materials for consumer and industrial applications. Such applications are currently dominated by petroleum-based products and offer a potentially large new market for ag-based raw materials. However, successful entry into such area requires improving the material properties of agricultural products. One approach being pursued for attaining this goal is through blending of ag-based raw materials with synthetic or petroleum-based materials. In the work reported herein, the application of a new technique for studying blend compatibility is reviewed. The method allows for the proper selection and/or modification of materials to obtain useful ag-based blends. The review brings to the attention of researchers, recent progress made in the development of this method in various aspects of materials research. The main goal of the review is to build and disseminate the knowledge base for developing consumer and industrial products from ag-based raw materials.

Technical Abstract: Recently, a number of dynamic techniques of interfacial tension measurement have been reported. These techniques are based on the time dependence of the change in the geometry of a fiber, disc or drop of one polymer imbedded in a second polymer. One of these dynamic methods is the imbedded fiber retraction (IFR) method, which is reviewed in this paper. The IFR is based on the change in the shape of a short fiber as a function of time. The IFR has been used to study the effects of various polymer and processing parameters on the interfacial tensions of a number of blends. In all cases, the interfacial tensions measured using the IFR method were found to be consistent with the expectations of the effects of these parameters on interfacial tension. The IFR was also used to study the correlation of blend interfacial tension with its mechanical, thermal and morphological properties. The IFR was compared with other dynamic and non-dynamic interfacial tension measurement methods and found to give comparable results. Recent studies of the IFR include that of evaluating the interfacial tensions of new polymer and hybrid blends.