Premium
Polypropylene/nylon 6 blends: Phase distribution morphology, rheological measurements, and structure development in melt spinning
Author(s) -
Liang BoRun,
White James L.,
Spruiell Joseph E.,
Goswami Bhuvenesh C.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.1983.070280616
Subject(s) - materials science , polypropylene , composite material , extrusion , melt spinning , plastics extrusion , phase (matter) , nylon 6 , polymer blend , rheology , scanning electron microscope , die swell , shear rate , extrusion moulding , rheometer , spinning , polymer , copolymer , chemistry , organic chemistry
A series of polypropylene (PP)/nylon 6 (N6) blends of composition 75/25, 50/50, and 25/75 have been prepared in a screw extruder combined with a Koch static mixer. The phase morphology was observed with a scanning electron microscope. The influence of heating in the reservoir of a rheometer followed by subsequent extrusion through a capillary on the phase morphology was investigated. Phase size growth as a function of time was observed under quiescent and mild deformation rate conditions. The discrete phase size was observed to decrease with increasing extrusion rate through dies. The shear viscosity and principal normal stress difference of the blends were measured as a function of composition. The crystalline orientation of both polypropylene and nylon 6 in blend melt spun fibers was characterized by wide angle X‐ray diffraction and interpreted in terms of Hermans–Stein orientation factors. The orientation increases with drawdown ratio. The orientation factors for the polypropylene phase vary with spinline stress in a manner independent of composition and identical to that for pure polypropylene. Extracting melt spun blend fibers with formic acid has produced small‐diameter polypropylene minifilaments with diameters of the order of microns.