List of Figures & Tables

Figure 1.1 Schematic illustration of two situatio ns where blending and/or compounding are especially attractive from a commer cial viewpoint Figure 1.2 Gibbs free energy of mixing of binary blends Figure 1.3 Steric hinderence by compatibilizers. Co mpatibilizers acting as both anchors and repulsive springs ensuring the stabilit y and prevention to coalescence. Figure 1.4 a) Block or graft copolymers b) Nonreact ive polymers containing polar groups c) Reactive functional polymers d) A polymer ic coupling agent attaches an inorganic filler to the polymer matrix and thus compatibilizes the filler with the polymer by non-bonded (physical ) interactions and/or chemical bonds. It must be compatible with the poly mer (ideally, it should have the same chemistry as the polymer), as well as being able to interact with, react with, or even better "glue" to the fill erError! Bookmark not defined. Figure 1.5 Different filler particle sizes at th e same filling level Figure 1.6 The different types of nanofillers ba ed on the nanodimension Figure 1.7 Structure of montmorillonite clay Figure 1.8 The delamination of layers through sh ear force a)-d) effective exfoliation of clay aggregates leads to more effective infiltra t on of the polymer delamination and e) the peeled clay layers once the polymer is diffused into the clay layers .f) the approximate number of platelets on complete delamination. i,ii