Looking back to interfacial tension prediction in the compatibilized polymer blends: Discrepancies between theories and experiments

Prediction of interfacial tension of compatibilized polymer blends is a challenging open problem, where experiments and theories hardly support each other. In this work, constitutive models proposed for quantifying the interfacial tension of compatibilized polymer blends were revisited and their limitations/capabilities were discussed. In view of available data in the literature, which could provide with possibility of comparison between interfacial tension values obtained in this work and those published before, high-density polyethylene (HDPE)/polyamide-6 and HDPE/polyethylene-co-vinyl alcohol pairs comprising varying amounts of HDPE-g-maleic anhydride compatibilizer precursor were prepared for obtaining model parameters. The inability of theories in monitoring the interfacial tension was accordingly uncovered. However, outcomes from both theoretical and experimental data provided some insights for elucidating the interplay between interfacial tension and rheological characteristics of the studied compatibilized blends. It was also attempted to uncover the relationships between particle size, particle size distribution, and rheological properties of blends compatibilized with different amounts of HDPE-g-maleic anhydride precursor.