Poster Session

Selective Localization of Carbon Black at the Interface of Immiscible Polymer Blend

Mohammed Al-Saleh, PhD student in Chemical Engineering

Supervisor - Dr. U. Sundararaj

Immiscible polymer blends are one of the most promising methods to reduce the percolation threshold and enhance the composite conductivity at low CB loading. In a ternary system of CB and 2 immiscible polymers, CB was found to have different affinity to each polymer in the blend; thus it will selectively disperse in one of the two phases or accumulate at the interface [ ]. The percolation in such blends is governed by the percolation of the CB rich phase and the continuity of this phase in the blend. The selective localization of the filler at the interface provides a composite with the lowest filler loading if the interfacial region was continuous. Unfortunately, for most polymers blends studied, CB did not show affinity for the interface. In this work, we are introducing a new methodology that can significantly reduce the percolation threshold and enhance the conductivity of immiscible polymer blends. Our approach is based on introducing a copolymer that will selectively localize at the interface of immiscible polymer blend and for which CB will have the highest affinity. PP/PS immiscible blend with and without SBS triblock copolymer were in this investigation.