Abstract:
Blends of Nylon 6 (polyamide-6) and HDPE (high-density polyethylene) with blend ratios of 80/20 (wt/wt) and 20/80 (wt/wt) were studied using zinc-neutralized maleic anhydride grafted HDPE (MAH-gHDPE) as compatibilizers. Maleic anhydride groups were hydrolyzed and neutralized with different amounts of zinc acetate dihydrate in a twin-screw extruder to produce different levels of zinc-neutralization (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 %) at one and ten parts per hundred of resin of compatibilizer. SEM micrographs showed a large reduction in the dispersion phase size in the compatibilized blends. Tensile measurements showed improvement of tensile strength for all compatibilized blends; moreover, the elongation at break of compatibilized blends at 10 phr of compatibilizer was improved. Blending increased the crystallization temperature for the Nylon 6, and the addition of compatibilizer reduced the crystallization temperature slightly. A significant increase in melt viscosity of the compatibilizer was found with zinc addition and adding compatibilizer increased the viscosity of the blends. However, the addition of zinc to the compatibilizer did not change the viscosity in the Nylon 6 rich blends and actually led to a decrease in viscosity in the HDPE-rich blends.
