The effect of compatibility on phase morphology and orientation of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) blends under shear stress was investigated via dynamic packing injection molding (DPIM). The compatibility of i’PP blended with other polymers, namely, atactic polypropylene (iPP), octane-ethylene copolymer (POE), ethylene-propylene-diene rubber (EPDM) and poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (EVA), have first been studied using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). These blends were subjected to DPIM, which relies on the application of shear stress fields to the melt/solid interfaces during the packing stage by means of hydraulically actuated pistons. The phase morphology, orientation and mechanical properties of the injection-molded samples were characterized by SEM, 2D WAXS and Instron. For incompatible iPP/EVA blends, a much elongated and deformed EVA particles and a higher degree of iPP chain orientation were observed under the effect of shear. However, for compatible iPP/aPP blends, a less deformed and elongated aPP particles and less oriented iPP chains were deduced. It can be concluded that the compatibility between the components decreases the deformation and orientation in the polymer blends. This is most likely due to the hindering effect, resulting from the molecular entanglement and interaction in the compatible system.
The brittle-ductile transition is a very important phenomenon for polymer toughening. Polypropylene (PP) is often toughened by using rubbers, e.g., ethylene-propylene diene monomer (EPDM) has often been used as a modifier. In this article, the toughening of PP by using a new kind of rubber, known as elastomeric nano-particle (ENP), and the brittle-ductile transition of PP/EPDM/ENP was studied. Compared to PP/EPDM binary blends, the brittle-ductile transition of PP/EPDM/ENP ternary blends occurred at lower EPDM contents. SEM experiment was carried out to investigate the etched and impact-fractured surfaces. ENP alone had no effect on the impact strength of PP, however, with the same EPDM content, PP/EPDM/ENP ternary blends had smaller particle size, better dispersion and smaller interparticle distance in contrary to PP/EPDM binary blends, which promoted the brittle-ductile transition to occur earlier.
Polyoxymethylene (POM)/elastomer/filler ternary composites were prepared, in which thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and inorganic filler, namely, CaCO3, were used to achieve balanced mechanical properties of POM. The dispersion and phase morphology of POM/elastomer/filler composites were found to depend largely on processing method, CaCO3content in masterbatch and the filler size. Two processing methods were employed to prepare POM/elastomer/filler ternary composites. One is called the one-step method, in which elastomer and the filler directly melt blended with POM matrix. The other is called the two-step method, in which the elastomer and the filler were mixed to get masterbatch first, which was then melt blended with pure POM of different content. The effect of phase morphology and processing method on impact strength was investigated. It was found that the two-step method results in an increase in impact strength but not for the one-step method. Additionally, the impact strength of POM ternary composites decreases with the increase in the size of CaCO3particles.
The hierarchical structure and interfacial morphology of injection-molded bars of polypropylene (PP) based blends and composites have been investigated in detail from the skin to the core. For preparation of injection-molded bars with high-level orientation and good interfacial adhesion, a dynamic packing injection molding technology was applied to exert oscillatory shear on the melts during solidification stage. Depending on incorporated component, interfacial adhesion and processing conditions, various oriented structure and morphology could be obtained. First, we will elucidate the epitaxial behavior between PP and high-density polyethylene occurring in practical molded processing. Then, the shear-induced transcrystalline structure will be the main focus for PP/fiber composites. At last, various oriented clay structures have been ascertained unambiguously in PP/organoclay nanocomposites along the thickness of molded bars.
in situ Fibril formation of polyamide-6(PA6)in isotropic polypropylene(iPP)was first fabricated using a slit die extrusion and hot stretching process.Then the prepared materials were subjected to injection molding in the temperature range higher than the melting temperature of iPP but lower than that of PA6.The obtained injection-molded samples were characterized via scanning electron microscopy(SEM),differential scanning calorimetry(DSC)and two-dimensional wide- angle X-ray scattering(2D-WAXS).Mechanical properties were also investigated.The SEM result shows that the optimum fibril formation could be only achieved in the range of 20 wt% to 30 wt% of PA6 content for the studied system.The fibril morphology changes along the sample thickness in the injection-molded bars.The fibril morphology in the skin layer was better than that in the core layer.2D-WAXS results showed that the orientation of PP decreased with the increase of PA6 content,which indicated that the orientation of PP was confined by PA6 fibrils.Combined consideration of mechanical properties and morphology indicates that only PP/PA6 composites with 20 wt% of PA6 content show better properties because of the better fibril morphology and PP chain orientation.
In order to improve the tensile properties of poly(ethylene terephthalate)(PET), we used the direct esterification method to synthesize PET in a home-made facility, and a certain amount of ethylene glycol (EG), one of the two starting monomers, was substituted by glycerin (GE). Four PETs with different GE contents were prepared to investigate the effect of GE on the crystallization and tensile properties of the prepared copolyester. The results showed largely improved tensile properties and increased crystallization temperature due to the possible erosslinking structure in PET by using a small amount of GE.
