6. Recycling of polymer blends trnres（6。）.pdf

T Transworld Research Network 37/661 (2), Fort P.O. Trivandrum-695 023 Kerala, India Recent Developments in Polymer Recycling, 2011: 187-214 ISBN: 978-81-7895-524-7 Editors: A. Fainleib and O.Grigoryeva 6. Recycling of polymer blends Jesmy Jose, Jyotishkumar P, Saje ev M. George and Sabu Thomas School of Chemical Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Priyadarshini Hills P.O. Kottayam-686 560, Kerala, India Abstract. Polymer blends and alloys offer an interesting solution to obtain multipurpose materials with tailor-made properties. Recycling of these inseparable mixtures is however restricted by processing as well as thermodynamic issues. Regenerative recycling as well as compatibilizer aided blending of post consumer blend recyclates enabled successful restoration of blend properties. The present chapter reviews the state-of the- art scenario in the recycling of post consumer polymer blend wastes. 1. Introduction In the recent decades, an ever growing demand for improved properties such as stiffness, ductility, thermal stability, flame resistance and impact resistance etc had paved the development of blending of polymer mixtures. The total market volume for polymer blends is currently estimated to be more than 1.1 million metric tons a year [1]. It includes a significant number of large volume products such as PPE/HIPS blends (Norly (R)), PC/PBT blends (Xenoxy), and PA/PPE blends (Noryl GTX) [2-5] etc that are being generated to equip the multipurpose needs of plastics industry. Albeit, on par with this eve