ADHESION BETWEEN SEMICRYSTALLINE POLYMERS

The energy of adhesion between two incompatible, semicrystalline polym ers polypropylene (PP) and polyamide 6 (PA6) - has been measured using the double cantilever beam (DCB) test. Junctions between the polymers were formed by chemical reaction between NH2 ends of the PA6 and succ inic acid groups on a small percentage of PP chains. The results prese nted here show that the DCB test is a reliable tool for measuring ener gies of adhesion between semicrystalline polymers in the range of one to several hundred joules per square meter. X-ray photoelectron spectr oscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to elucidate the mec hanism of adhesion. These results show that chain pull-out occurs from the polypropylene over the explored range of energies, and that crazi ng probably also occurs at high energies.