Morphological and mechanical properties of PP/ABS blends compatibilized with PP‐g‐acrylic acid

Polypropylene (PP) and acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) blends were prepared by a melt extrusion process. PP‐g‐acrylic acid was used as a compatibilizer. Blends with various compositions of PP, compatibilizer, and ABS were prepared and studied for morphological and mechanical properties. PP‐rich ternary blends showed good morphological and mechanical properties. The use of 5 wt % PP‐g‐acrylic acid as a compatibilizer resulted in a fine and homogeneous dispersion of the ABS phase in the PP phase. The experimental data of the tensile modulus showed good agreement in PP‐rich compositions with that generated from Kerner's model with perfect adhesion. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 81: 1731–1741, 2001     

Compatibilization of polypropylene/Poly(acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene) blends by polypropylene‐graft‐cardanol

The polypropylene‐graft‐cardanol (PP‐g‐cardanol) was prepared by reactive extrusion with polypropylene (PP) and natural renewable cardanol which could increase the interfacial energy of PP and inhibit the degradation of PP during the process of reactive extrusion and usage. In this article, PP‐g‐cardanol and polypropylene‐graft‐maleic anhydride (PP‐g‐MAH) were used as compatibilizers of the polypropylene (PP)/poly(acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene) (ABS) blends. PP/ABS (70/30, wt %) blends with PP‐g‐cardanol and PP‐g‐MAH were prepared by a corotating twin‐screw extruder. From the results of morphological studies, the droplet size of ABS was minimized to 1.93 and 2.01 μm when the content of PP‐g‐cardanol and PP‐g‐MAH up to 5 and 7 phr, respectively. The results of mechanical testing showed that the tensile strength, impact strength and flexural strength of PP/ABS (70/30) blends increase with the increasing of PP‐g‐cardanol content up to 5 phr. The complex viscosity of PP/ABS (70/30) blends with 5 phr PP‐g‐cardanol showed the highest value. Moreover, the change of impact strength and tensile strength of PP/ABS (70/30) blends were investigated by accelerated degradation testing. After 4 accelerated degradation cycles, the impact strength of the PP/ABS (70/30) blends with 5 phr PP‐g‐cardanol decrease less than 6%, but PP/ABS (70/30) blends with 5 phr PP‐g‐MAH and without compatibilizer decrease as much as 12% and 32%, respectively. The tensile strength of PP/ABS (70/30) blends has a similar tendency to that of impact strength. The above results indicated that PP‐g‐cardanol could be used as an impact modifier and a good compatibilizer, which also exhibited better stability performance during accelerated degradation testing. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41315.     

Blends of recycled polycarbonate and acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene: comparing the effect of reactive compatibilizers on mechanical and morphological properties

Blends of recycled polycarbonate (PC) and acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) were prepared and some mechanical and morphological properties were investigated. To compatibilize these blends, ABS‐g‐(maleic anhydride) (ABS‐g‐MA) and (ethylene–vinyl acetate)‐g‐(maleic anhydride) (EVA‐g‐MA) with similar degree of grafting of 1.5% were used. To compare the effect of the type of compatibilizer on mechanical properties, blends were prepared using 3, 5 and 10 phr of each compatibilizer. A co‐rotating twin‐screw extruder was used for blending. The results showed that ABS‐g‐MA had no significant effect on the tensile strength of the blends while EVA‐g‐MA decreased the tensile strength, the maximum decrease being about 9.6% when using 10 phr of this compatibilizer. The results of notched Charpy impact strength tests showed that EVA‐g‐MA increased the impact strength of blends more than ABS‐g‐MA. The maximum value of this increase occurred when using 5 phr of each compatibilizer, it being about 54% for ABS‐g‐MA and 165% for EVA‐g‐MA. Scanning electron microscopy micrographs showed that the particle size of the dispersed phase was decreased in the continuous phase of PC by using the compatibilizers. Moreover, a blend without compatibilizer showed brittle behaviour while the blends containing compatibilizer showed ductile behaviour in fracture. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry     

Rheology‐morphology correlation in PET/PP blends: Influence of type of compatibilizer

Rheological and morphological properties of melt processed poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)/polypropylene (PP) blends are presented. Two types of compatibilizer namely, PP‐g‐MA <MA= maleic anhydtide> and Elvaloy PTW, an n‐butyl acrylate glycidyl methacrylate ethylene terpolymers, were incorporated at different levels to the PET/PP blend system. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the dispersed particle sizes were smaller in PET‐rich blends than PP‐rich blends. With increasing compatibilizer level, the refinement of morphology was observed in both the systems. However, the blends compatibilized with PTW showed a more refined (smaller) particle size, and at high PTW content (10 wt%), the morphology changed towards monophasic. The significant changes in morphology were attributed to the highly reactive nature of PTW. Investigation of rheological properties revealed that the viscosity of the PET/PP blends followed typical trends based on mixing rule, which calculates the properties of blends based on a linear average. Incorporation of PP‐g‐MA into the blends resulted in a negative deviation in the viscosity of the system with respect to that of the neat blend. With increasing PP‐g‐MA level, the deviation became more pronounced. Although incorporation of the compatibilizer into the PET/PP blends refined the morphology, it led to a drastic drop of viscosity, which could be attributed to inherently lower molecular weight of the compatibilizer. In the case of the blends compatibilized by PTW, a strong positive deviation in rheological properties was observed that confirmed the stronger interaction between the blend components due to reactive compatibilization process, which led to the more refined morphology in this series of blends. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 19:25–30, 2013. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Mechanical,rheological, thermal,and morphological properties of blends based on poly(propylene)/poly(propylene‐co‐1‐octene)/poly(ethylene‐co‐1‐octene)

The effect of addition of propylene copolymer, produced by metallocene catalysts, on the mechanical, rheological, and morphological properties of blends based on poly(propylene) (PP) and ethylene–1‐octene copolymer (EOC) was evaluated. It was observed that the addition of 2 wt % propylene–1‐octene copolymer (POC) improved the impact strength of the EOC/PP blends. The rheological analysis indicated that the addition of propylene copolymer produced materials with improved processability. Thermal and morphological analysis showed that the POC acts as a compatibilizer on the EOC/PP blends. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, J Appl Polym Sci 89: 1690–1695, 2003     

Morphological,thermal, rheological,and mechanical properties of PP/EVOH blends compatibilized with PP‐g‐IA

We prepared some blends of polypropylene (PP) and ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) with and without a compatibilizer. As a new compatibilizer, we synthesized polypropylene grafted with itaconic acid (PP‐g‐IA) using Brabender mixing system. We investigated the morphological, thermal, rheological, and mechanical properties of a compatibilized blends (PP/EVOH/PP‐g‐IA) and not compatibilized blends (PP/EVOH). Our experiments showed that carboxylic acid groups in PP‐g‐IA and hydroxyl group in EVOH formed strong in situ hydrogen bond in the compatibilized blends, resulting in better morphological and mechanical properties of the compatibilized blends than those of not compatibilized blends. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 56:1240–1247, 2016. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Boiling water aging of polycarbonate and polycarbonate/acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene resin and polycarbonate/low‐density polyester blends

The effects of boiling water on the mechanical and thermal properties and morphologies of polycarbonate (PC), PC/acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene resin (PC/ABS), and PC/low‐density polyester (PC/LDPE) blends (compositions of PC/ABS and PC/LDPE blends were 80/20) were studied. PC and the PC/ABS blend had a transition from ductile to brittle materials after boiling water aging. The PC/LDPE blend was more resistant to boiling water aging than PC and the PC/ABS blend. The thermal properties of glass‐transition temperature (T_g) and melting temperature (T_m) in PC and the blends were measured by DSC. The T_g of PC and PC in the PC/ABS and PC/LDPE blends decreased after aging. The T_g of the ABS component in the PC/ABS blend did not change after aging. The supersaturated water in PC clustered around impurities or air bubbles leading to the formation of microcracks, which was the primary reason for the ductile–brittle transition in PC, and the microcracks could not recover after PC was treated at 160°C for 6 h. The PC/ABS blend showed slightly higher resistance to boiling water than did PC. The highest resistance to boiling water of the PC/LDPE blend may be attributed to its special structural morphology. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 89: 589–595, 2003     

Dynamically cured polypropylene/Novolac blends compatibilized with maleic anhydride‐g‐polypropylene

In this article, the dynamic vulcanization process was applied to polypropylene (PP)/Novolac blends compatibilized with maleic anhydride‐grafted PP (MAH‐g‐PP). The influences of dynamic cure, content of MAH‐g‐PP, Novolac, and curing agent on mechanical properties of the PP/Novolac blends were investigated. The results showed that the dynamically cured PP/MAH‐g‐PP/Novolac blend had the best mechanical properties among all PP/Novolac blends. The dynamic cure of Novolac improved the modulus and stiffness of the PP/Novolac blends. The addition of MAH‐g‐PP into dynamically cured PP/Novolac blend further enhanced the mechanical properties. With increasing Novolac content, tensile strength, flexural modulus, and flexural strength increased significantly, while the elongation at break dramatically deceased. Those blends with hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) as a curing agent had good mechanical properties at HMTA content of 10 wt %. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed that dynamically cured PP/MAH‐g‐PP/Novolac blends had finer domains than the PP/MAH‐g‐PP/Novolac blends. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results indicated that the incorporation of Novolac into PP could improve the thermal stability of PP. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2007     

Mechanical property and morphology comparison between the two blends poly(propylene)/ethylene‐propylene‐diene monomer elastomer and poly(propylene)/maleic anhydride‐g‐ethylene‐propylene‐diene monomer

The comparison of the mechanical properties between poly(propylene)/ethylene‐propylene‐diene monomer elastomer (PP/EPDM) and poly(propylene)/maleic anhydride‐g‐ethylene‐propylene‐diene monomer [PP/MEPDM (MAH‐g‐EPDM)] showed that the latter blend has noticeably higher Izod impact strength but lower Young's modulus than the former one. Phase morphology of the two blends was examined by dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, indicating that the miscibility of PP/MEPDM was inferior to PP/EPDM. The poor miscibility of PP/MEPDM degrades the nucleation effectiveness of the elastomer on PP. The observations of the impact fracture mode of the two blends and the dispersion state of the elastomers, determined by scanning electron microscopy, showed that PP/EPDM fractured in a brittle mode, whereas PP/MEPDM in a ductile one, and that a finer dispersion of MEPDM was found in the blend PP/MEPDM. These observations indicate that the difference in the dispersion state of elastomer between PP/EPDM and PP/MEPDM results in different fracture modes, and thereby affects the toughness of the two blends. The finer dispersion of MEPDM in the blend of PP/MEPDM was attributed to the part cross‐linking of MEPDM resulting from the grafting reaction of EPDM with maleic anhydride (MAH) in the presence of dicumyl peroxide (DCP). © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 2486–2491, 2002     

Phase morphology,thermomechanical, and crystallization behavior of uncompatibilized and PP‐g‐MAH compatibilized polypropylene/polystyrene blends

In this article, we discuss the phase morphology, thermal, mechanical, and crystallization properties of uncompatibilized and compatibilized polypropylene/polystyrene (PP/PS) blends. It is observed that the Young's modulus increases, but other mechanical properties such as tensile strength, flexural strength, elongation at break, and impact strength decrease by blending PS to PP. The tensile strength and Young's modulus of PP/PS blends were compared with various theoretical models. The thermal stability, melting, and crystallization temperatures and percentage crystallinity of semicrystalline PP in the blends were marginally decreased by the addition of amorphous PS. The presence of maleic anhydride‐grafted polypropylene (compatibilizer) increases the phase stability of 90/10 and 80/20 blends by preventing the coalescence. Hence, finer and more uniform droplets of PS dispersed phases are observed. The compatibilizer induced some improvement in impact strength for the blends with PP matrix phase, however fluctuations in modulus, strength and ductility were observed with respect to the uncompatibilized blend. The thermal stability was not much affected by the addition of the compatibilizer for the PP rich blends but shows some decrease in the thermal stability of the blends, where PS forms the matrix. On the other hand, the % crystallinity was increased by the addition of compatibilizer, irrespective of the blend concentration. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42100.     

Toughening and compatibilization of polypropylene/polyamide‐6 blends with a maleated–grafted ethylene‐co‐vinyl acetate

In this article, maleated–grafted ethylene‐co‐vinyl acetate (EVA‐g‐MA) was used as the interfacial modifier for polypropylene/polyamide‐6 (PP/PA6) blends, and effects of its concentration on the mechanical properties and the morphology of blends were investigated. It was found that the addition of EVA‐g‐MA improved the compatibility between PP and PA6 and resulted in a finer dispersion of dispersed PA6 phase. In comparison with uncompatibilized PP/PA6 blend, a significant reduction in the size of dispersed PA6 domain was observed. Toluene‐etched micrographs confirmed the formation of interfacial copolymers. Mechanical measurement revealed that the addition of EVA‐g‐MA markedly improved the impact toughness of PP/PA6 blend. Fractograph micrographs revealed that matrix shear yielding began to occur when EVA‐g‐MA concentration was increased upto 18 wt %. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 99:3300–3307, 2006     

Property enhancement in polypropylene ternary blend nanocomposites via a novel poly(ethylene oxide)‐grafted polystyrene‐block‐poly(ethylene/butylene)‐block‐polystyrene toughener–compatibilizer system

Synthesis and characterization of a novel toughener–compatibilizer for polypropylene (PP)–montmorillonite (MMT) nanocomposites were conducted to provide enhanced mechanical and thermal properties. Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) blocks were synthetically grafted onto maleic anhydride‐grafted polystyrene‐block‐poly(ethylene/butylene)‐block‐polystyrene (SEBS‐g‐MA). Special attention was paid to emphasize the effect of PEO‐grafted SEBS (SEBS‐g‐PEO) against SEBS‐g‐MA on morphology, static/dynamic mechanical properties and surface hydrophilicity of the resultant blends and nanocomposites. It was found that the silicate layers of neat MMT are well separated by PEO chains chemically bonded to nonpolar SEBS polymer without needing any organophilic modification of the clay as confirmed by X‐ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analyses. From scanning electron microscopy analyses, elastomeric domains interacting with MMT layers via PEO sites were found to be distributed in the PP matrix with higher number and smaller sizes than the corresponding blend. As a benefit of PEO grafting, SEBS‐g‐PEO‐containing nanocomposite exhibited not only higher toughness/impact strength but also increased creep recovery, as compared to corresponding SEBS‐g‐MA‐containing nanocomposite and neat PP. The damping parameter of the same nanocomposite was also found to be high in a broad range of temperatures as another advantage of the SEBS‐g‐PEO toughener–compatibilizer. The water contact angles of the blends and nanocomposites were found to be lower than that of neat hydrophobic PP which is desirable for finishing processes such as dyeing and coating. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry     

Melt‐mixed polypropylene/acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene blends with multiwall carbon nanotubes: Effect of compatibilizer and modifier on morphology and electrical conductivity

Cocontinuous blends of 45/55 polypropylene (PP)/acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene (ABS) with multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNT) were prepared by melt‐mixing in a conical twin‐screw microcompounder. PP‐grafted‐maleic anhydride (PP‐g‐MA) and styrene MA were used as compatibilizers for PP/ABS blends. Scanning electron microscopic observations showed phase segregation of PP‐g‐MA in the blends. State of dispersion of MWNT in the presence or absence of the compatibilizers was assessed through AC electrical conductivity measurements and crystallization studies of the blends. An improvement in AC electrical conductivity was observed in blends in presence of either styrene MA or dual compatibilizers. The lowest electrical percolation threshold was achieved at 0.1 wt % of MWNT using sodium salt of 6‐amino hexanoic acid‐modified MWNT. Significant increase in crystallization temperature of PP phase of blends with MWNT was observed in the presence of compatibilizers as compared to blends without compatibilizers. An attempt has been made to address the complex issues of phase segregation, compatibilization, and dispersion of MWNT in cocontinuous blends of PP/ABS. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Effect of compatibilizer in acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene toughened nylon 6 blends: Ductile–brittle transition temperature

The ductile–brittle transition temperatures were determined for compatibilized nylon 6/acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene (PA6/ABS) copolymer blends. The compatibilizers used for those blends were methyl methacrylate‐co‐maleic anhydride (MMA‐MAH) and MMA‐co‐glycidyl methacrylate (MMA‐GMA). The ductile–brittle transition temperatures were found to be lower for blends compatibilized through maleate modified acrylic polymers. At room temperature, the PA6/ABS binary blend was essentially brittle whereas the ternary blends with MMA‐MAH compatibilizer were supertough and showed a ductile–brittle transition temperature at ?10°C. The blends compatibilized with maleated copolymer exhibited impact strengths of up to 800 J/m. However, the blends compatibilized with MMA‐GMA showed poor toughness at room temperature and failed in a brittle manner at subambient temperatures. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 2643–2647, 2003     

Polypropylene/polypropylene‐grafted acrylic acid copolymer/ethylene–Acrylic acid copolymer ternary blends for hydrophilic polypropylene

Ternary blends of polypropylene (PP), a polypropylene‐grafted acrylic acid copolymer (PP‐g‐AA), and an ethylene–acrylic acid copolymer (EAA) were prepared by melt blending. The surfaces of films with different contents of these three components were characterized with contact‐angle measurements. Scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis were used to characterize the microstructure, melting and crystalline behavior, and thermal stability of the blends. The contact angles of the PP/PP‐g‐AA blends decreased monotonically with increasing PP‐g‐AA content. With the incorporation of EAA, the contact angles of the PP/PP‐g‐AA/EAA ternary blends decreased with increasing EAA content. When the concentration of EAA was higher than 15 wt %, the contact angles of the ternary blends began to increase. Scanning electron microscopy observations confirmed that PP‐g‐AA acted as a compatibilizer and improved the compatibility between PP and EAA in the ternary blends. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis suggested that acrylic acid moieties could act as nucleating agents for PP in the polymer blends. Thermogravimetric analysis and differential thermogravimetry confirmed the optimal blend ratio for the PP/PP‐g‐AA/EAA ternary blends was 70/15/15. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 436–442, 2006     

Effect of maleic anhydride grafted polybutadiene on the compatibility of polyamide 66/acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene copolymer blend

The addition of maleic anhydride grafted polybutadiene (PB‐g‐MAH) can greatly improve the compatibility of polyamide 66 (PA66)/acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene copolymer (ABS) blends. Unlike the commonly used compatibilizers in polyamide/ABS blends, PB‐g‐MAH is compatible with the ABS particles' core phase polybutadiene (PB), rather than the shell styrene‐acrylonitrile (SAN). The compatibility and interaction of the components in the blends were characterized by Fourier transform‐infrared spectra (FTIR), Molau tests, melt flow index (MFI), dynamic mechanical analyses (DMA), and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) observations. The results show that PB‐g‐MAH can react with the amino end groups in PA66 while entangle with the PB phase in ABS. In this way, the compatibilizer anchors at the interface of PA66/ABS blend. The morphology study of the fracture sections before and after tensile test reveals that the ABS particles were dispersed uniformly in the PA66 matrix and the interfacial adhesion between PA66 and ABS was increased significantly. The mechanical properties of the blends thus were enhanced with the improving of the compatibility. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2012. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers     

An investigation on recycled PET/PP and recycled PET/PP‐EP compatibilized blends: Rheological,morphological, and mechanical properties

The effectiveness of P(E‐co‐MA‐co‐GMA) as a compatibilizer for recycled PET/PP and recycled PET/PP‐EP (polypropylene (ethylene‐propylene) heterophase copolymer) blends was investigated by means of morphological (scanning electron microscopy), rheological (small amplitude oscillatory shear), mechanical (tensile, flexural and impact tests), and thermal (differential scanning calorimetry) properties. Compatibilizer concentration ranged from 1 to 5 wt % with respect to the whole blend. All blends were obtained in a 90/10 composition using a twin screw extruder. Compatibilization effects for PETr/PP‐EP were more pronounced due to ethylene segments present in both PP‐EP and P(E‐co‐EA‐co‐GMA). PETr/PP‐EP has shown greater dispersed phase size reduction, a more solid‐like complex viscosity behavior and larger storage modulus at low frequencies in relation to PETr/PP blend. For both investigated blends, mechanical properties indicated an improvement in both elongation at break and impact strength with increasing compatibilizer content. PETr/PP‐EP blends showed improved performance for the same level of compatibilizer content. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41892.     

Studies on morphology and thermomechanical performance of ABS/PC/organoclay hybrids

In the present research, poly(acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene)/polycarbonate (ABS/PC) blends were prepared in a twin screw extruder. An attempt to reinforce and promote compatibility of the above systems was made by the incorporation of organically modified montmorillonite (OMMT, Cloisite 30B), as well as by the addition of compatibilizer (ABS grafted with maleic anhydride, ABS‐g‐MAH), and the effect of those treatments on the morphology, thermal transitions, rheological, and mechanical properties of the above blends was evaluated. The addition of compatibilizer in ABS/PC blends does not significantly affect the glass transition temperature (T_g) of SAN and PC phases, whereas the incorporation of Cloisite 30B decreases slightly the T_g values of SAN and, more significantly, that of PC in compatibilized and uncompatibilized blends. The T_g of PB phase remains almost unaffected in all the examined systems. The obtained results suggest partial dissolution of the polymeric components of the blend and, therefore, a modified Fox equation was used to assess the amount of PC dissolved in the SAN phase of ABS and vice versa.Reinforcing with OMMT enhances the miscibility of ABS and PC phases in ABS/PC blends and gives the best performance in terms of tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, and storage modulus, especially in 50/50 (w/w) ABS/PC blends. The addition of ABS‐g‐MAH compatibilizer, despite the improvement of intercalation process in organoclay/ABS/PC nanocomposites, did not seem to have any substantial effect on the mechanical properties of the examined blends. POLYM. COMPOS., 35:1395–1407, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Use of zinc‐neutralized ethylene/methacrylic acid copolymer ionomers as blend compatibilizers for nylon 6 and low‐density polyethylene

The effect of the composition on the morphologies and properties of uncompatibilized and compatibilized blends of nylon 6 and low‐density polyethylene were studied over a wide range of weight fractions. The uncompatibilized blends had substantially reduced mechanical properties after mixing, and this was almost certainly due to poor interfacial adhesion between the two polymers. The addition of a zinc‐neutralized poly(ethylene‐co‐methacrylic acid) ionomer (Surlyn® 9020) as a compatibilizer improved the mechanical properties in comparison with those of the material blended without the compatibilizer. The clearest evidence of this improvement came from dynamic mechanical studies; for selected blends with high polyethylene contents, the drop in the modulus corresponding to the transition of a solid to a melt occurred at higher temperatures with the added compatibilizer. This improvement in the properties was accompanied by a reduction in the dispersed‐phase size due to the interaction between the ionic part of the ionomer and the amide groups of nylon 6, especially when nylon 6 was the dispersed phase of the blend. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 89: 620–629, 2003     

Effects of olefin‐based compatibilizers on the morphology,thermal and mechanical properties of ABS/polyamide‐6 blends

In this study, commercially available epoxidized and maleated olefinic copolymers, EMA‐GMA (ethylene‐methyl acrylate‐glycidyl methacrylate) and EnBACO‐MAH (ethylene‐n butyl acrylate‐carbon monoxide‐maleic anhydride), were used at 0, 5, and 10% by weight to compatibilize the blend composed of ABS (acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene) terpolymer and PA6 (polyamide 6). Compatibilizing performance of these two olefinic polymers was investigated from blend morphologies, thermal and mechanical properties as a function of blend composition, and compatibilizer loading level. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies showed that incorporation of compatibilizer resulted in a fine morphology with reduced dispersed particle diameter at the presence of 5% compatibilizer. The crystallization behavior of PA6 phase in the blends was explored for selected blend compositions by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). At high compatibilizer level a decrease in the degree of crystallization was observed. In 10% compatibilizer containing blends, formation of γ‐crystals was observed contrary to other compatibilizer compositions. The behavior of the compatibilized blend system in tensile testing showed the negative effect of using excess compatibilizer. Different trends in yield strengths and strain at break values were observed depending on compatibilizer type, loading level, and blend composition. With 5% EnBACO‐MAH, the blend toughness was observed to be the highest at room temperature. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 926–935, 2007