TOUGHENING AND REINFORCEMENT OF HDPE CACO3 BLENDS BY INTERFACIAL MODIFICATION INTERFACIAL INTERACTION/

To improve the mechanical properties and structure of HDPE/CaCO3 compo sites, a type of modifier, consisting mainly of carboxylated polyethyl ene (CPE), and a type of CaCO3 grafted with acrylamide (CaCO3-A) were used. The carboxyl group content of CPE was from 1 to 10%. The amide g roup content on the surface of the modified CaCO3 was from 0.2 to 1.8% . The interfacial structure and interaction of ternary blends of HDPE, CPE, and CaCO3-A were studied. The results indicate that the higher t he amide group content and the carboxyl group content, the higher the tensile and impact strength. This behavior has been attributed to a se ries of chemical and physico-chemical interactions taking place betwee n the two components during the blending process which were confirmed by FTIR and extraction experiments. The improvement of interfacial adh esion by the CPE and CaCO3-A was also clearly revealed in the SEM of t he fracture surface. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.