Large scale formation of various highly oriented structures in polyethylene/polycarbonate microfibril blends subjected to secondary melt flow

Relationship between the Processing, Structure, and Properties of Microfibrillar Composites

The relationship between processing, morphology, and properties of polymeric materials has been the subject of numerous studies of academic and industrial research. Finding an answer to this question might result in guidelines on how to design polymeric materials. Microfibrillar composites (MFCs) are an interesting class of polymer-polymer composites. The advantage of the MFC concept lies in developing in situ microfibrils by which a perfect homogeneous distribution of the reinforcement in the matrix can be achieved. Their potentially excellent mechanical properties are strongly dependent on the aspect ratio of the fibrils, which is developed through a three-stage production process: melt blending, fibrillation, and isotropization. During melt blending, the polymers undergo different morphological changes, such as a breakup and coalescence of the droplets, which play a crucial role in defining the microstructure. During processing, various parameters may affect the morphology of the MFCs, which must be taken into account. Besides the processing parameters, the microstructure of the composite is dependent on the composition ratio of the blend and viscosity of the components, as well as the dispersion and distribution of the microfibrils. The objective here is to outline this importance and bring together an overview of the processing-structure-property relationship for MFCs.

The Formation of a Highly Oriented Structure and Improvement of Properties in PP/PA6 Polymer Blends during Extrusion-Stretching

During the “slit die extrusion-hot stretching” process, highly oriented polyamide 6 (PA6) dispersed phase was produced and retained in the polypropylene (PP) matrix directly. By adjusting the stretching forces, the PA6 spherical phase evolved into the ellipsoid, rod-like microfibril with a decreasing average diameter; then, the PA6 microfibrils broke. Moreover, the effects of the PA6 phases formed in the process of the microfibrillation on PP’s crystallization behaviors were studied systematically. As the stretching forces increased, the crystallization ability and orientation degree of PP crystals improved significantly. Differential scanning calorimetry and polarizing optical microscopy confirmed the formation of PP spherulite, fan-shaped lamellae and a transcrystalline layer under the induction of the PA6 phases with different morphology. In the PP/PA6 microfibrilar composites (MFCs), PP crystals showed smaller average size, more crystals and stronger interface adhesion due to more excellent heterogeneous nucleation ability of the PA6 microfibrils, which made contributions to the improvement of the melt elasticity responses and oxygen barrier properties of the PP/PA6 polymer blends.

Influence of HMW tail chains on the structural evolution of HDPE induced by second melt penetration

It is widely accepted that the role of the high molecular weight (HMW) component is cooperative in shear-induced crystallization, owing to entanglements among long chains. However, this paper demonstrates that the HMW component has a novel effect on structural evolution during the process of multi-melt multi-injection molding (M³IM), organized as follows. First, the appropriate HDPE system with an incremental concentration of HMW tails was established. Second, the crystalline morphologies and orientation behaviors of the M³IM samples were characterized using a combination of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and two-dimensional small angle X-ray scattering (2D-SAXS), and these suggested that the amount of shish-kebabs was not monotonically promoted with an increasing content of HMW tails but tended to reduce at a certain value. Third, in order to explain this phenomenon, the special temperature and shear profiles of M³IM were depicted subsequently, and finally the mechanism of hierarchical structure formation with the influence of various amounts of HMW tail chains was discussed, based on the classical rheological viewpoint.

Strong shear-driven large scale formation of hybrid shish-kebab in carbon nanofiber reinforced polyethylene composites during the melt second flow

A strong shear drives the large scale formation of hybrid shish-kebab in carbon nanofiber reinforced polyethylene composites during the melt second flow.

Hierarchical crystalline morphologies induced by a distinctly different melt penetrating process

It is the first time that hierarchically crystalline morphologies induced by melt penetration of the melt with different interactions.

In situ formation of polypropylene (PP) fibrils in the olefinic block copolymer (OBC): effect of viscosity ratio and OBC block architecture

The universality of MFC concept is proven by using different PP to modify OBC with variable structures.