MISCIBILITY ASSESSMENT AND THERMAL OXIDATIVE STABILITY OF BLENDS OF BRANCHED POLYETHYLENE AND POLY(1,2-BUTADIENE)

Poly(1,2-butadiene) promotes crosslinking of branched polyethylene, wh ich indeed indicates partial miscibility of the two polymers. Dynamic mechanical spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy of blends of branched polyethylene and poly(1,2-butadiene) indicated that the p olymers are partially immiscible even in the blend with only 3% of pol y(1,2-butadiene). The thermal oxidative stability at temperatures abov e the melting point of samples stabilized with antioxidants was essent ially unaffected by the percentage concentration of poly(1,2-butadiene ), whereas the stability towards external partial discharges was lower in crosslinked polyethylene blends containing poly(1,2-butadiene) tha n in pure crosslinked polyethylene.