ab initio methods, 52

accelerated solvent extraction (ASE), 33

acoustic microscopy (AM), 85–6

aerospace applications, 99–104

characterisation of HTPBs, 104–9

atomic oxygen erosion yield, 105

recommended tests procedures for replacement aliphatic PU coatings, 109

HTPBs in IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the Sun) spacecraft, 102

HTPBs in NASA polymeric spherical electrostatic shield, 102–4

charged spacecraft and six positively and negatively charged spheres, 102

room temperature DC dielectric and ultimate tensile strengths, 103

structure of TOR-NC, 103

HTPBs in Solar Impulse aircraft, 99, 101

summary of SAE polymers and blends standards, 100–1

American Membrane Technology Association (AMTA), 73

Arrhenius equation, 85

atomic force microscopy (AFM), 28, 81, 85–6

atomic oxygen (AO), 102–3

atomistic calculations, 28

attenuated total reflectance (ATR), 79, 98

Auger spectroscopy, 25

automatic continuous online monitoring of polymerisation (ACOMP), 33

bi-layer cells, 88

bismaleimides, 9

blending miscible high temperature polymers, 132

blending polymers

challenges, 45–9

examples of polymer-1 degradative effects on polymer-2 in HTPB, 47–8

bulk heterojunction (BHJ) cells, 88

calorimetry, 159

carpet shape, 104

Celazole, 183, 200–2

Certified Reference Materials (CRM), 26

characterisation methods

high temperature polymer blends, 14–52

challenges in blending polymers, 45–9

chemical, thermal, mechanical and radiation-induced degradation, 33–42

chemical constitutions and molecular weights, 29–3

future trends, 50–2

methods of polymer characterisation, 23–6

polymer blends characterisation, 26–8

stabilisation, 42–5

summary, 49–50

chemical degradation, 34

chromatography, 24, 31

cloud-point curve (CPC), 27

Cole-Cole plot, 84–5

commercial liquid crystal polymer (LCP) blends, 157–60

commercial products, 158–9

patents, 157–8

commercial products, 158–9

compatibilisation, 27

Compression Test, 25

cyclic voltammetry (CV), 97

de-polymerisation, 34–5

differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), 35, 80, 167

differential thermal analysis (DTA), 35, 85

differential thermogravimetry (DTG), 34

diffractometry, 24

diphenylisophthalate (DPIP), 178

direct injection moulding, 169

donor-acceptor-donor (DAD), 98

dried blend resin, 188

dye-sensitised solar cell (DSSC), 92

dynamic mean field density functional theory, 52

dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), 135

dynamic mechanical measurements, 152

Dyneema, 16–17

E-tek, 84–5

Ektar, 41

electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), 84

electrochemical voltage spectroscopy (EVS), 97

Electron Backscattered Diffraction Analysis, 26

Electron Probe Microanalysis, 26

Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis (ESCA), 98

electron spin resonance (ESR), 42–3

energy dispersive X-ray spectrometers, 26

Environmental Stress Cracking Resistance (ESCR), 27–8

equivalent sun days (ESD), 107

evaporation of solvent through surface of encapsulating and induced alignment (ESSENCIAL), 89

exhaustiveness, 142–3

Extem, 22

external quantum efficiency (EQE), 95, 96–7

Fenton’s test, 85

field emission microscopes (FEM), 73–4

fill factor, 95

Flexural test, 25

Flory-Huggins formalism, 3

Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR), 167

analysis, 24

spectroscopy, 79

Fox equation, 187

fuel cell (FC) membrane applications, 74–9

Nafion structure, 75

polymer blends used for PEM, 76–8

gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), 35

gas permeability, 82

gel permeation chromatography (GPC), 31, 99

heat deflection temperature (HDT), 185

high modulus aramides (HMA), 192

high resolution nuclear magnetic resonance techniques (HR-NMR), 28

high temperature polymer blends, 1–10, 18–24

amorphous siloxane-polyetherimide copolymer SILTEM, 23

characterisation for specific applications, 70–110

aerospace applications, 99–104, 104–9

fuel cell (FC) membrane applications, 74–9

HTPBs arranged in order of increasing continuous use temperature, 71–2

membrane applications, 73–4

polymer solar cells (PSCs), 93–9

solar cell (SC) applications, 86–93

characterisation methods, 14–52

challenges in blending polymers, 45–9

chemical, thermal, mechanical and radiation-induced degradation, 33–4

example of rigid-rod and kink-forming monomeric structures, 16

future trends, 50–2

HTPBs arranged in order of increasing continuous use temperature, 19–20

methods of polymer characterisation, 24–7

PA blends with specialty polymers, 17–18

polymer blends characterisation, 27–9

summary, 49–50

world plastics production, 15

chemical constitutions and molecular weights, 31–3

characterisation, 30

FC applications, 79–86

four categories of amorphous and semi-crystalline polymers, 18

general principles of polymer blending, 2–3

immiscible blends, 5–9

liquid crystal polymers (LCPs) as reinforcement, 141–60

blends of isotropic and anisotropic thermotropic polymers, 150–2

commercial LCP blends, 157–60

future trends, 160

liquid crystals, 144–5

polymer liquid crystals, 145–50

processability of LCP and thermoplastic blends, 152–4

researching, 142–4

structure–property relationship of LCP blended materials, 155–7

polysulfones as reinforcement, 165–72

issues in blending polysulfone with other HTP, 166–8

physical properties, 168–9

structure and properties, 165–6

thermoset mixtures, 169–71

stabilisation, 42–5

benzofuran-2-one, 45

example of labile hydrogens, 44

example of plastics stabilisers, 44

thermodynamics, 3–5, 130-9

blending miscible high temperature polymers, 132

chemical structure of poly(2, 2′ (m-phenylene)-5-5′ bibenzimidazole), 5

liquid crystal polymer blends, 135–7

molecular composites, 137–8

PBI blends, 133–5

polyimide blends, 135

highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO), 94

hydrolysis, 34–5

hydroquinone (HQ), 136

6-hydroxynapthoic acid (HNA), 135–6

HyperBlocks, 52

HyperMacs, 52

IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the Sun) spacecraft, 102

immiscible blends, 5–9

individual polymer components, 79–81

infrared (IR) spectra, 192

infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS), 107

infrared studies, 133–4

injection-moulded articles, 155

Innegra, 16–17

internal quantum efficiency (IQE), 96–7

International Atomic Energy Agency, 41–2

International Space Station (ISS), 102–3

interpenetrating polymer network (IPN), 108

interphase, 27

inverse gas chromatography (IGC), 33

ion-exchange capacity (IEC), 83

Irgafos, 44–5

irradiation, 40

ISO Standards, 24–26

Japan Aerospace Agency (JAXA), 102

Kapton, 106

Kevlar, 16–17, 137, 146–7

Lexan SLX, 22

light scattering, 29, 31

linear Rule of Mixtures, 187

liquid crystal device (LCD), 102

liquid crystal polymer blends, 135–7

liquid crystal polymer (LCP), 7–9

reinforcement in high temperature polymer blends, 141–60

blends of isotropic and anisotropic thermotropic polymers, 150–2

commercial LCP blends, 157–60

future trends, 160

liquid crystals, 144–5

polymer liquid crystals, 145–50

processability of LCP and thermoplastic blends, 152–4

researching, 142–4

structure–property relationship of LCP blended materials, 155–7

liquid crystals, 144–5

nematic structure of p-azoxyanisole, 145

transition temperatures of p-azoxyanisole, 146

liquid separation, 208

low-angle laser light scattering (LALLS), 32

low Earth orbit (LEO), 42, 104

low molecular weight liquid crystals (LMWLC), 137

lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO), 94

lyotropic polymer solutions, 146–7

magic angle spinning (MAS), 79–80

mass spectrometry, 31

mass spectroscopy, 31

Matrimid, 179–80

maximum power point, 95

mechanical degradation, 37–40

melt rheology, 81

melt viscosity, 7–8

membrane water uptake, 83

methanol (MeOH) permeability, 82–3

methylene chloride, 193

metrology, 23

microanalysis, 25

micrography, 25

microscopy, 25

microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), 33

miscible polymer blend, 3, 27

molecular composites, 6, 137-8

molecular dynamics (MD), 52

Monte Carlo (MC), 52

multi-junction cells, 90

multi-scale molecular modelling (MSMM), 52

multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), 156–7

multiphase systems, 50

Nafion, 51, 75, 110

nanofiltration, 73

naphthalate dicarboxylate (NDC), 155

NASA polymeric spherical electrostatic shield, 102–4

natural gas direct carbon fuel cell (NGDC-FC), 74

near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, 33, 79

nematic-to-isotropic transition, 144–5

nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), 31, 79–80, 98

Nylon 12, 158

Nylon 6 system, 6

open circuit voltage, 95

optical microscopy (OM), 81, 85-6

organic solar cells (OSC), 86–7

p-hydroxybenzoic acid (HBA), 135–6

partial discharge erosion (PDE), 106

patents, 157–8

phase separation, 169–70, 171

photovoltaic (PV) devices, 86

poly (2, 2′ (m-phenylene)-5-5′ bibenzimidazole) (PBI) blends, 133–5

chemical structure of PBI polymer, 133

chemical structure of Ultrem polyetherimide, 133

phase separation diagram for PBI/Ultrem blends, 134

polyamide-imides (PAI), 196

polyarylates (PA), 192

polybenzimidazole (PBI), 166

high temperature applications, 206–8

composites and coatings, 208

examples of other applications, 207–8

fabrics made of fibre blends, 207

moulded products, 206–7

high temperature polymers and blends, 174–209

future trends, 208–9

PBI–poly (bisphenol-A carbonate) (PC) and PBI–polybenzoxazole (PBO) blends, 197–8

PBI–poly(4-vinyl pyridine) (PVPy) and other blends, 198–9

PBI–polyarylate (PA) blends, 192–4

PBI–polyaryletherketone (PAEK)-PEI blends, 190–2

PBI–polyetheretherketone (PEEK) blends, 202–5

PBI–polyetherimide (PEI) blends, 188–90

PBI–polyetherketoneketone (PEKK) blends, 183–8

PBI–polyimide (PI) and PBI–polyamide-imide (PAI) blends, 195–7

PBI–polysulfone (PS) blends, 194–5

processing of PBI, 177–9

polymerisation structure, 179

structure of PBI polymer, 175

TGA curve of 100 mesh PBI Air, 176

TGA curve of 100 mesh PBI N2, 176

polybenzimidazole (PBI) blends, 179–83

polyaryletherketone structures, 182

polybenzimidazole (PBI) commercial products, 199–206

commercial PBI fibres, 199–200

properties of PBI staple fibres, 200

compression moulded products, 200–2

Celazole U-60 typical properties, 201–2

solutions, 205–6

PBI Gold, 199–200

PBI Matrix, 199–200

PBI–poly (4-vinyl pyridine) (PVPy) blends, 198

PBI–poly (bisphenol-A carbonate) (PC) blends, 197

PBI–polyamide-imide (PAI) blends, 196–7

PBI–polyarylate (PA) blends, 192–4

PBI–polyaryletherketone (PAEK)-PEI blends, 190–2

PBI–polybenzoxazole (PBO) blends, 198

PBI–polyetherimide (PEI) blends, 188–90

T_g vs % PBI, 190

PBI–polyetherketoneketone (PEKK) blends, 183–8

PBI–polyimide (PI) blends, 195–6

PBI–polysulfone (PS) blends, 194–5

PBI powder resin, 186

polyetherimide, 133

polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), 155

polyimide blends, 135

polyimides (PI), 166

polymer alloys, 27

polymer blending, 2–3

polymer liquid crystals, 145–50

lyotropic polymer solutions, 146–7

normal stress behaviour for PBLG in m-cresol, 148

viscosity at various shear rates vs concentration and chemical structure of PBLG, 148

thermotropic liquid crystal polymers, 147–50

Polymer Reference Interaction Site Model (PRISM), 29

polymeric solar cells (PSC), 87

polymers, 24

poly(phthalazinoneethersulfoneketone) (PPESK), 22

polysulfones

reinforcement in high temperature polymer blends, 165–72

issues in blending polysulfone with other HTPs, 166–8

physical properties, 168–9

structure and properties, 165–6

thermoset mixtures, 169–71

chemical structure of bisphenol A dicyanate, 170

positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS), 35, 73–4

power, 95

power conversion efficiency (PCE), 95

protective clothing, 209

proton conductivity, 84–5

pulse-induced critical scattering (PICS), 27

pyrolysis-gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS), 80-1

pyrolysis gas chromatography (PGC), 35

quantum dots (QD), 90–1

radiation degradation, 40–2

Raman spectroscopy, 79, 167

reference electrode (RE), 97

relative humidity, 83

rheology, 148–9, 159

rigid backbone polymers, 146–7

scanning electron microscopy (SEM), 8, 26, 73–4, 81, 85–6

secondary ion mass spectroscopy, 25

selected-area electron diffraction (SAED), 97

self-reinforcing composite, 143

self-reinforcing polyphenylenes (SRP), 17

semi-interpenetrating networks, 9

short circuit voltage, 95

SILTEM, 23

single angle neutron scattering (SANS), 108

single layer cells, 88

single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT), 92–3, 156-7

size exclusion chromatography (SEC), 80, 99

small angle neutron scattering (SANS), 29

small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), 98–9, 189

solar cell (SC) applications, 86–93

efficiency of diverse types of inorganic or organic solar cells, 87

active bi-layer of PC₆₀BM, 89

current–voltage dependence, 94

donor polymers structure, 90

maximum power point, 95

n-type ZnO nanocones penetrating p-type PX CdTe matrix on transparent ZnO, 92

PEDOT:PPS multi-layered structure, 88

Solar Impluse aircraft, 99, 101

solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance, 189

solid-state polymerisation (SSP) process, 178

solution viscosity theory, 32

sonification-assisted extraction, 33

spectroscopy, 25

spinodal decomposition (SD), 108

spiral flow, 153

pure Ultrem vs HIQ/Ultrem blends, 154

standard test conditions (STC), 96

sterilisation, 41

structure–property relationship

LCP blended materials, 155–7

example of good adhesion in LCP blend, 156

SEM micrograph of LCP fibrils both core and skin regions, 156

sulfonation, 195

supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), 33

Superex Polymer, 158–9

tandem cells, 90

temperature rising elution fractionation (TREF), 32–3

terephthalic acid (TA), 136

tetraaminobiphenyl (TAB), 178

tetrahydrofuran, 193–4

theoretical model, 3

thermal degradation, 34–8

molecular structure of poly(ether-ether-ketone) and Vectra LCP, 36

poly(2, 6-dimethyl-1, 4-phenylene oxide, 37

polycarbonate of bis-phenol-A, 35

pyromellitic di-anhydride (PMDA), 38

thermal mechanical analysis (TMA), 192

thermal volatilisation analysis (TVA), 35

thermodynamics, 3–5

high temperature polymer blends, 130–9

blending miscible high temperature polymers, 132

liquid crystal polymer blends, 135–7

molecular composites, 137–8

poly (2, 2′ (m-phenylene)-5-5′ bibenzimidazole) (PBI) blends, 133–5

polyimide blends, 135

thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), 25, 80, 99

thermomechanical degradation, 37–40

thermoplastic polyimide (TPI), 21

thermoset mixtures, 169–71

thermotropic liquid crystal polymers, 147–50

thermotropic polymers

blends of isotropic and anisotropic, 150–2

mechanical properties of LCP and polymer blends, 151–2

miscibility and compatibility, 151

transmission electron microscopy (TEM), 81, 85–6, 192

twin-screw extruder (TSE), 34

two-stage melt condensation, 178

ultrafiltration, 73

ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, 42

ultraviolet (UV)-visible, 42–3, 96–7, 98

Ultrem, 22–3, 133, 188–9

US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), 90

vacuum ultraviolet (VUV), 106

Vectra, 36

Vectra A950 thermotropic polyester, 159–60

Victrex, 22–3

viscometry, 31

viscosity

behaviour, 147

ratio, 152–3

Vogel-Fulcher-Tamman-Hesse (VFTH), 85

wavelength dispersive spectroscopy, 26

Wayback Machine, 143

Web of Science, 142–3

weld lines, 153–4

X-ray diffraction (XRD), 41, 98, 159, 193

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), 25, 41, 98

Young’s modulus, 152, 168, 169