Abstract
Polymer blends, with new exploitable combinations of properties, are an alternative to meet the steady increasing demands on polymer materials and the synthesis of new polymers. The mechanical behavior of these multicomponent materials, in relation to their formulation, composition and phase has been the subject of much work [1]. Similar to polymer composites [2], the blend properties strongly depend on the adhesion at the interphase boundary between the blend components. In order to enhance the dispersion and to stabilize the degree of dispersion reached, as well as to improve the adhesion, a third component (compatibilizer) is commonly used [3]. The compatibilizer has to be distributed on the phase boundary between the two components. For this reason it is important to have appropriate techniques for introduction of the compatibilizer as well as methods for proving its distribution on the phase boundary. Very recently [4-7] it was demonstrated that microindentation hardness can be successfully used for testing polymer phase boundaries.
NSTL