화학공학소재연구정보센터
Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol.86, No.13, 3445-3453, 2002
Reactive melt blending of modified polyamide and polypropylene: Assessment of compatibilization by fractionated crystallization and blend morphology
The melting and crystallization behavior of nonreactive and reactive melt-mixed blends of polypropylene and carboxylic-modified polyamide (mPA) as the dispersed phase was investigated. It was found that the size of the mPA particles decreases and the crystallization behavior of the mPA particles changes in dependence on the mixing time of the blends with oxazoline-modified PP (mPP). This indicates that an in situ reaction occurs between the oxazoline groups of mPP and the carboxylic acid groups of mPA, resulting in a compatibilizing effect. In blends with mPP, the crystallization of the dispersed mPA phase splits into two steps. Below a critical particle size, the mPA does not crystallize at temperatures typical for bulk crystallization. These finely dispersed mPA particles crystallize coincidently with the PP phase, and this part increases with increasing mixing time. Analysis of the crystallization heat of both steps in connection with the particle volume distribution permits the estimation of the critical particle size to be less than or equal to 4 mum. These investigations showed that the effect of fractionated crystallization can be used to follow the morphology development and to evaluate the efficiency of compatibilizing interfacial reactions during processing.