Effect of Poly(propylene-co-octene) as a Compatibilizer on Mechanical Properties and Weldline Characteristics of Polypropylene/Poly(ethylene-co-octene) Blends

Effect of poly(propylene-co-octene) as a compatibilizer in toughened polypropylene/ poly(ethylene-co-octene) (EOC) was investigated. The EOCs used were metallocene catalyzed commercial linear low density polyethylene and they are elastomeric materials. The poly(propylene-co-octene) was synthesized by metallocene catalyst in our laboratory to be used as a compatibilizer in PP/EOC blends. PP/EOC blends without compatibilizer shows very low mechanical properties in specimens with weldlines while incorporation of a compatibilizer significantly increases the mechanical properties of specimens with weldlines. However, compatibilized PP/EOC blends does not show increased impact property in a weldline free specimen and it is attributed to low molecular weight of the poly(propylene-co-octene) synthesized in present study. It is expected that the poly(propylene-co-octene) having increased molecular weight provides very good performance as an effective compatibilizer in toughened polypropylene/EOC blends.