There continues to be much work done in universities and educational institutions to understand the mixing process, much of which is totally ignored by the industry at large, except where they are directly involved. An example of this latter case is the EU-funded pan-European research project on tangential rotors for masterbatch compounding, mentioned earlier.

Deutsches Institut f r Kautschuktechnologie in Hanover has been carrying out interesting work on the continuous mixing of both curable rubbers and thermoplastic vulcanisates, with published papers comparing different screw designs, for example (39).

Akron University continues to publish many papers on mixing and blending, more particularly using batch mixers and with a developing interest in intercalation and exfoliation of nanofillers in rubbery materials (41). Osaka City University is also carrying out work on mixing techniques as reported recently (24).

Many other institutions are also concerned with polymer-polymer and polymer-filler interactions (including silane coupling of fillers) and the morphology of filled compounds. A list of institutions taken from recent journals submitted to the Rapra library includes:

• Kaiserslautern University (34)

• Twente University (38)

• AmirKabir University (45)

• Leuven, Catholic University (82)

• Gyeongsang, National University (91)

• Mahidol University (135)

• Akron University (142)

• Universit Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris under Jean LeBlanc (42)

Work on mixing mechanisms and mathematical models of mixing and control is being carried out at:

• Qingdao, University of Science & Technology (44)

• South China, University of Technology (77)

• Jiangsu, Institute of Petroleum Technology (158)

• Russian Academy of Sciences (61)

• AmirKabir University (96)

• Institut f r Kunststoffverarbeitung (138)