The development of polymer blends, composites and laminates is a very active area of science and technology; of great economic importance not only for the plastics industry but also for many other industries where the use of such products is becoming increasingly more common.
Even worse is the fact that they also have less compatibility than would be required in order to obtain the desired level of properties and performance from their blends. Compatibilizers are often used as additives to improve the compatibility of immiscible polymers and thus improve the morphology and resulting properties of the blend. Similarly, it is often challenging to disperse fillers effectively in the matrix polymer of a composite, or to adhere layers of polymers to each other or to other substrates (such as glass or metals) in laminates. Continued progress in the development of compatibilization technologies is, hence, crucial in enabling the polymer industry to reap the full benefits of such approaches to obtaining materials with optimum performance and cost characteristics.