Engineering Polymer Blends with Controllable Interfacial Location of Janus Particles as Compatibilizers

Janus particles (JPs) are a new type of compatibilizer for polymer blends that offer a wider range of adjustable amphiphilic (Janus balance) and reactivity properties. In this study, snowman-like JPs with different compositions on two lobes are synthesized and employed as compatibilizers for poly(lactic acid)/poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) blends. By changing the two lobe size ratios and surface compositions to adjust the Janus balance, interfacial distributions of the as-used JPs in the blends can be controlled. Correspondingly, the size of the PBS dispersed phase is tuned. Most importantly, reactive groups are introduced into JPs to enhance interfacial interactions. Compared to the effect of dispersed phase size reduction, the ductility and toughness of blends with the JPs are more significantly enhanced by improving interactions between the JPs and blend phases. When JPs are anchored to the interface, the elongation at break and tensile toughness of the blend increase by 13.1 and 16.4 times, respectively.