The FTIR spectrum confirms the crosslinking of each polymer as well as of the blend using the same crosslinker; however, the swelling results show an increased degree of swelling of the blend that is higher than that of each crosslinked polymer alone.
Dear Reem Hazem Elaasar, one possible explanation is that the interdistance between crosslinks bridges, and bridges lengths in the blend are higher than that in each of both neat polymers (components forming the blend). Here chemical structure, degree of miscibility, and co-existance phases size play important role. My Regards
You might expect a mixture or blend to have properties intermediate to the two components, but this is not always the case - azeotropes, etc.
If your blend is phase separated (micro heterogeneous) there may be excess swelling at phase boundaries. If it is a true homogeneous blend then the polymer-polymer complex must have a greater solvent affinity than either single component.
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