Effects of glycidyl methacrylate-functionalized polyethylene as a compatibilizer in nylon 6/HDPE blends

Abstract

Glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) functionalized low density polyethylene (LDPE) was used as a compatibilizer to examine its effects on the morphology and mechanical properties of nylon 6/HDPE blends. Compatibilizers of different GMA grafting content were prepared through reactive extrusion followed by compounding with nylon 6 and HDPE using a twinscrew extruder. It was found that while the amount of GMA grafted had little effect on the properties of the blends, the addition of LDPE-g-GMA as a compatibilizer would significantly reduce the phase dimension of Nylon-6 dispersed in HDPE, resulting in an improvement of the toughness as well as other mechanical properties of the blends. This was attributed to the reaction between the GMA functional groups and nylon, as manifested by an increase of the melt viscosity, an increase of the crystallization temperature and a reduction of the melting point of the nylon phase.