Enhanced toughness for polyamide 6 with a core-shell structured polyacrylic modifier

The Impact of Artificial Marble Wastes on Heat Deflection Temperature, Crystallization, and Impact Properties of Polybutylene Terephthalate

As artificial marble is abundant and widely used in residential and commercial fields, the resource utilization of artificial marble wastes (AMWs) has become extremely important in order to protect the environment. In this paper, polybutylene terephthalate/artificial marble wastes (PBT/AMWs) composites were prepared by melt blending to maximize resource utilization and increase PBT performance. The research results showed that the filling of AMWs was beneficial to the improvement of PBT-related performance. X-ray diffraction analysis results indicated that after filling AMWs into the PBT matrix, the crystal structure of PBT was not changed. Heat deflection temperature (HDT) analysis results indicated that the HDT of PBT composites with 20 wt% AMWs reached 66.68 °C, which was 9.12 °C higher than that of neat PBT. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis results showed that heterogeneous nucleation could be well achieved when the filling content was 15 wt%; impact and scanning electron microscope analysis results showed that due to the partial core-shell structure of the AMWs, the impact strength of PBT was significantly improved after filling. When the filling amount was 20 wt%, the impact strength of the PBT composites reached 23.20 kJ/m², which was 17.94 kJ/m² higher than that of neat PBT. This research will not only provide new insights into the efficient and high-value utilization of AMWs, but also provide a good reference for improved applications of other polymers.

Cyanate ester resin based composites with high toughness and thermal conductivity

A new cyanate ester resin-based composite with higher toughness and thermal conductivity was developed. First, a poly(n-butyl acrylate)/poly(methyl methacrylate-co-acrylamide) (PBMAM) core-shell structured latex was prepared by seeded emulsion polymerization. Second, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) particles were modified by a surface coupling agent, 3-(2-amino ethyl amino)propyl trioxysilane, to improve the dispersion in cyanate ester resin (BADCy). Third, PBMAM and the modified boron nitride were mixed with BADCy resin to increase mechanical properties and thermal conductivity. The monomer conversion in the emulsion polymerization process of the PBMAM was monitored by determining the solid content. Its particle size was characterized by dynamic laser scattering, and the morphology of the particles was characterized using scanning and transmission electron microscopes. The modified boron nitride (ABN) was verified by FTIR and TGA measurements. The mechanical properties and thermal conductivity of the BADCy/PBMAM/ABN composites were determined at various BN contents. Results showed that the unnotched impact strength of the composite increased by 151% and the thermal conductivity increased by 85% at a PBMAM content of 5 wt% and ABN content of 6 wt%. With the enhanced properties and ease of fabrication, the developed composites have good potential for application in high-end industries such as microelectronic packaging.