EFFECT OF BLEND COMPOSITION ON THE STRUCTURE-PROPERTIES RELATIONSHIPS OF NANOSTRUCTURED POLYMER COMPOSITES FROM POLYCONDENSATE/POLYOLEFIN BLENDS
Titel:
EFFECT OF BLEND COMPOSITION ON THE STRUCTURE-PROPERTIES RELATIONSHIPS OF NANOSTRUCTURED POLYMER COMPOSITES FROM POLYCONDENSATE/POLYOLEFIN BLENDS
Auteur:
Friedrich, K. Evstatiev, M. Fakirov, S. Evstatiev, O.
Verschenen in:
International journal of polymeric materials
Paginering:
Jaargang 53 (2004) nr. 3 pagina's 211-227
Jaar:
2004-03
Inhoud:
Nanostructured polymer composites (NPC) are obtained by melt-blending of poly(ethylene terephtalate) (PET) and polypropylene (PP) as well as polyamide 66 (PA66) and PP in wt. ratio 70/30, 50/50 and 30/70, followed by cold drawing of the extruded bristle and compression molding of the drawn bristles in form of film. The blends are studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and static mechanical testing. SEM and X-ray reveal different blend morphologies created during the stages of NPC manufacturing: isotropic blend after extrusion, fibrillization of both components after drawing, izotropization of the PP matrix with preservation of the PET- or PA66 fibrils after hot pressing. Also observed was a strong epitaxial effect of the nanostructured microfibrils of PET or PA66 on the non-isothermal crystallization of PP during cooling after compression molding at 215°C. Thus, the cold drawn and thermally treated PET/PP and PA66/PP blends represent anisotropic transcrystalline structures. The PP crystallites in the transcrystalline layers are reoriented at aprox. 40° with respect to the drawn direction (fiber axis). This is valid for the whole amount of PP in the case of PET/PP blend and only partially for the blend PA66/PP. These morphological peculiarities affect the mechanical properties of the NPC: the Youngs modulus and the tensile strength of the compression molded films are respectively about 4-6 and about 10-15 times higher (depending of the chemical composition and proportions of the components in the blends) than those of the compression molded neat PP.