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Compatibilizers for thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer/polyethylene blends prepared by reactive mixing
Author(s) -
Son Younggon,
Weiss R. A.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
polymer engineering and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.503
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1548-2634
pISSN - 0032-3888
DOI - 10.1002/pen.11034
Subject(s) - materials science , thermotropic crystal , polyethylene , composite material , compatibilization , low density polyethylene , polymer blend , copolymer , ionomer , polymer , toughness , high density polyethylene , reactive extrusion , liquid crystalline
This paper describes the effects of composition and processing conditions on the efficiency of the compatibilizer prepared from a thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer (TLCP) and the sodium salt of a poly(ethylene‐ co ‐ r ‐acrylic acid) ionomer (EAA‐Na) in TLCP/low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) blends and TLCP/high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) blends. The TLCP‐ionomer graft copolymer formed by a melt acidolysis reaction effectively reduced the interfacial tension between TLCP and polyethylene, which improved impact strength and toughness of the compatibilized blends. Higher processing temperatures for the reactive extrusion produced a more efficient compatibilizer, presumably due to increased graft‐copolymer formation, but the reaction temperature had little effect on the impact strength of compatibilized blends for temperatures above 300°C. The addition of the compatibilizer to TLCP/LDPE blends significantly increased the melt viscosity due to increased interfacial adhesion. The TLCP/EAA‐Na ratio used to prepare the compatibilizer had little effect on the performance of the compatibilizer. Although the compatibilizer can be prepared in situ by blending and extruding a ternary blend of TLCP/EAA‐Na/polyethylene, pre‐reacting the compatibilizer resulted in blends with improved toughness and elongation.