Jm. Garcia-martinez et al., Structure development of PP/PA6 blends. Interfacial modifications and preliminary modeling of macroscopic properties, J MACR S PH, B40(3-4), 2001, pp. 387-404
Statistical experimental design following the Box-Wilson methodology has be
en used by the authors for years with the main goal to correlate ultimate p
roperties (i.e., from the macroscopic scale) with those from the microscopi
c scale. The aim to obtain optimal performance from heterogeneous materials
based on polymers, mainly polymer blends and composites, strongly depends
on the phases of the morphology involved and then on the structure and prop
erties of the interfaces. It is because of this fact that interfacial modif
ication agents are usually present in polymer blends and composites. The pr
esent work deals with the role played by two interfacial agents-obtained in
our laboratories-as interfacial modifiers in the polyamide 6/polypropylene
(PA6/PP) binary system. An experimental Box-Wilson design with two indepen
dent variables (blend composition and amount of interfacial agent) was perf
ormed, with the dependent variables being the parameters obtained from tens
ile tests. Mechanical property model forecasts were confirmed by phase cont
rast optical microscopy. The micromechanical model proposed seems to agree
with the Box-Wilson forecasts, which had analysis of variance (ANOVA) from
models that were satisfactory for these purposes.