COMPATIBILISATION STUDIES OF BLENDS OF NYLON 6 WITH METALLOCENE LINEAR LOW-DENSITY POLYETHYLENES

摘要

Polymer blends of polyamides and polyethylenes are immiscible and highly incompatible. These blends are characterised by high interfacial tension, a two-phase morphology and poor physical characteristics due to reduced interaction across the phase boundaries. The compatibilising agent, maleic anhydride-grafted-LLDPE, is physically miscible with the polyethylene phase and has a chemical functionality with the polyamide phase. The use of a new generation mLLDPE (ENGAGE~(TM) by Dupont) was studied to investigate its suitability as a modifier for the polyamide grade. The influence of the composition of the blends and the effect of the addition of the compatibiliser were both investigated for their effect on the mechanical properties. Increased mLLDPE content was shown to slightly decrease the impact values but significantly increase the modulus values. The addition of the compatibiliser improved the properties of the blends.