ABSTRACT
In the 20th century, after World War II, the great demand for materials in the construction, engineering, automobile, as well as domestic sectors have exhausted natural resources for materials. The dire need to replace conventional natural materials by synthetic materials to cater for the fast pace of industrial development and to meet the demand for cheaper yet good quality materials give rise to the era of plastics and polymeric materials. In the 1950s, the production of synthetic polymers flourished rapidly and became the most important industry in the world (Utracki, 2002). In view of its great demand, polymer technology has invariably diversified from single polymer to combinations of polymers, incorporation of additives, and reinforcements. Apart from acquiring synergistic effects, blending of polymers aims at widening, and modifying the range of properties of existing polymers such that new materials with the desired combination of properties for specific usage can be developed. Polymer blends are the physical mixtures of two or more chemically different homopolymers or copolymers. Blending is, in recent years, a well-established, easy processing, and cost-effective way for obtaining tailor-made polymeric systems (Utracki, 1989). In addition, it offers the means for industrial and/or municipal plastic waste recycling. The performance of polymer blends depends very much on the properties of the polymeric components, phase behavior, and the blend morphology. Optimization of the polymer blend performance can be done through the control of blend morphology via molecular structures of the components, blend compositions, and processing conditions (Paul and Newman, 1979, Utracki, 1991: Dumolin, 2002).
