## 4 Influence of QACs on Thermo-Mechanical Properties of Polymer Blends and Polymer Composites
### Influence of QASs on Polymer Composites
Besides, QAS like IDAB (chemical structure is shown in Figure 5) has been applied for compatibilization of SBR/Bentonite composites [20]. The application of IDAB has influenced the degradation temperature, tensile strength, tensile modulus, and tensile extension of the composites (Table 8). The degradation temperature of the composites is expected to be lower compared to the neat SBR/Bentonite composite. This is because of the low degradation temperature of IDAB compared to other components in the composites [20]. However, the mechanical properties, such as tensile strength and tensile modulus of the composites increased by up to 20% and 34%, respectively, in comparison with the neat composite. This is attributed to the increase of the cross-linking density of the SBR, which is caused by the presence of interactions between SBR matrix and bentonite filler, as a result, improving the compatibility between them [20]. Nonetheless, the tensile extension of the composites decreased because of the increase of their stiffness property with the presence of IDAB. The result indicated that the compatibilization of the composites by IDAB has allowed bentonite to restrict the movement of SBR chains. Consequently, it increased the \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Polymer Composite**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**QASs**} & \multicolumn{8}{c}{**Thermo-Mechanical Properties \({}^{*}\)**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**References**} \\ \cline{2-2} \cline{4-13}  & & \(T_{\mathbf{d}}\) & \(T_{\mathbf{g}}\) & \(T_{\mathbf{m}}\) & k & TS & TM & TE & FS & FM & IS \\ \hline HDPE/LDPE/Cellulose & HTAB & \(\Uparrow\) & - & \(\Uparrow\) & - & \(\Uparrow\) & \(\Uparrow\) & \(\Uparrow\) & - & - & \(\Uparrow\) & [16] \\ PBE/BN & OTAB & - & - & - & \(\Uparrow\) & - & - & - & \(\Uparrow\) & \(\Uparrow\) & \(\Uparrow\) & [18] \\ HDPE/Agar & HTAB & \(\Uparrow\) & - & \(\Uparrow\) & - & \(\Uparrow\) & \(\Uparrow\) & \(\Uparrow\) & - & - & \(\Uparrow\) & \(\Uparrow\) & [22] \\ SBR/Bentonite & IDAB & \(\Uparrow\) & - & - & - & \(\Uparrow\) & \(\Uparrow\) & \(\Uparrow\) & - & - & - & [20] \\ Nylon-\(\ell\)/LNR/MMT & HTAB & \(\Uparrow\) & \(\Uparrow\) & - & - & \(\Uparrow\) & \(\Uparrow\) & \(\Uparrow\) & - & - & - & [24] \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
\(T_{\mathbf{d}}=\) degradation temperature, \(T_{\mathbf{g}}=\) glass transition temperature, \(T_{\mathbf{m}}=\) melting temperature, \(\mathbf{k}=\) thermal conductivity, \(\mathbf{TS}=\) tensile strength, \(\mathbf{TM}=\) tensile modulus, \(\mathbf{TE}=\) tensile extension, \(\mathbf{FS}=\) flexural strength, \(\mathbf{FM}=\) flexural modulus, and \(\mathbf{IS}=\) impact strength. \({}^{*}\) The symbol \({}^{*}\Uparrow\) corresponds to an increase in the properties and \({}^{*}\Uparrow\) a decrease in the properties while \({}^{*}\)-\({}^{*}\) and \({}^{*}\Uparrow\) describe not available and unchanged, respectively.  
\end{table} 
Table 8: Thermo-mechanical properties of polymer composites influenced by QASs. rigidity property, which reduced the strain behavior of the composites and led to the lower tensile extension. The compatibilization by applying QASs is not only limited to conventional polymer composites, but they can also be applied in polymer nanocomposites [43]. HTAB is applied for compatibilization of Nylon-6/LNR/MMT nanocomposites [24]. The application of HTAB influenced the degradation temperature, glass transition temperature, tensile strength, tensile modulus, tensile extension, and impact strength of the nanocomposites (Table 8). The thermal properties, such as degradation temperature and glass transition temperature of the nanocomposites increased by up to 19% and 81%, respectively, compared to the neat Nylon-6/LNR matrix. This is attributed to the formation of intermolecular interactions between Nylon-6/LNR matrix and MMT filler generated by HTAB [24].