INFLUENCE OF INTERFACIAL ADHESION ON TOUGHENING OF POLYETHYLENE-OCTENE ELASTOMER NYLON-6 BLENDS

Super-tough nylon 6 was prepared by using polyethylene-octene elastome r (POE) grafted with maleic anhydride as a toughener. The influences o f maleating and a compatibilizer on interfacial adhesion and mechanica l properties of nylon 6/POE blends were investigated in terms of mecha nical testing, Molau tests, SEM observations, IR analyses, and rheolog ical behavior. The results show that the unmodified POE has hardly any contribution to toughness of nylon 6, whereas the maleic anhydride-gr afted POE (POE-g-MA) significantly improves the compatibility of POE w ith nylon 6 and sharply reduces its size in the nylon 6 matrix due to the in situ formation of a graft copolymer between POE-g-MA and nylon 6 during melt processing. With the POE-g-MA, a transition from brittle to ductile occurs. Besides, the use of a compatibilizer in nylon G/PO E-g-MA system shifts the brittle-ductile transition curve to a lower P OE-g-MA content, which is attributed, in part, to the chain-extending effect of CE-96 on the nylon 6 matrix leading to further reduction of the sizes of POE-g-MA in the matrix, in part, to the coupling reaction of CE-96 between POE-g-MA and nylon 6. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, In c. J Appl Polym Sci 69: 1711-1718, 1998.