Investigation of the alumina nanoparticle role in the enhancement of the mechanical properties of polyamide/polycarbonate blends

Enhancing properties of PC/PA blends via compatibilization of olefin-maleic-anhydride copolymer based additives in masterbatch form

Polymer blending has been a simple and efficient way for designing and controlling the performance of polymeric materials using easily available types. Both polycarbonate and polyamide have excellent mechanical properties and thermal stability but their disadvantages such as limited chemical or water resistance can be eliminate by tailoring them. Main difficulties in processing of PC/PA blends are the poor compatibility and high moisture adsorption capacity of the two raw materials complicating processing and also deteriorating mechanical properties of the products. Compatibilizing additives such as olefin-maleic-anhydride copolymer based compounds used in the experimental work can help to overcome the abovementioned difficulties. To determine the processing conditions of the raw materials several drying temperatures have been tested and thermal degradation has been examined by FT-IR spectroscopy. Experimental compatibilizing additives based on an olefin-maleic-anhydride copolymer have been investigated to enhance mechanical properties of the blends prepared by extrusion moulding. Mechanical, rheological, SEM and FT-IR measurements have been performed and at least one additive has been found to be efficient in improving selected properties.

Multifaceted property tailoring of polyamide 6 by blending miscible and immiscible components: ternary blends of polyamide 6/polyethylene terephthalate/phenol novolac

Ternary polymer blends comprising miscible and immiscible components are examined to improve the mechanical properties of polyamide 6 (PA6) under humid and high-temperature conditions. Miscible polymers increase the glass transition temperature (T_g), owing to their strong inter-molecular interactions, while phase-separated immiscible polymers reinforce the physical properties of PA6 as filler materials. Ternary blends exhibit these combined miscible and immiscible component contributions. Thus, in this study, ternary blends comprising PA6, polyethylene terephthalate (PET, immiscible component), and phenol novolac (PN, miscible component) are prepared by melt mixing. The PA6 stiffness in the water-absorbed state is reinforced by PET. Moreover, the proposed PA6/PET/PN ternary blends exhibit higher T_g values and lower water absorption rates than those of the PA6/PET binary blend, owing to the PN contribution. The PET and PN contributions are achieved independently and can be controlled via the composition ratios of the component polymers. Multifaceted property tailoring is thus demonstrated.

Properties of polyamide 6 (PA6) under hygrothermal conditions are improved by blending polyethylene terephthalate (PET, immiscible) and phenol novolac (PN, miscible).

Particles adsorbed at various non-aqueous liquid-liquid interfaces

Particles adsorbed at liquid interfaces are commonly used to stabilise water-oil Pickering emulsions and water-air foams. The fundamental understanding of the physics of particles adsorbed at water-air and water-oil interfaces is improving significantly due to novel techniques that enable the measurement of the contact angle of individual particles at a given interface. The case of non-aqueous interfaces and emulsions is less studied in the literature. Non-aqueous liquid-liquid interfaces in which water is replaced by other polar solvents have properties similar to those of water-oil interfaces. Nanocomposites of non-aqueous immiscible polymer blends containing inorganic particles at the interface are of great interest industrially and consequently more work has been devoted to them. By contrast, the behaviour of particles adsorbed at oil-oil interfaces in which both oils are immiscible and of low dielectric constant (ε<3) is scarcely studied. Hydrophobic particles are required to stabilise these oil-oil emulsions due to their irreversible adsorption, high interfacial activity and elastic shell behaviour.