Influence of the organoclay localization on structure features and properties of polyamide 6/functionalized polyolefins blends

The effect of 1.5 wt. % Cloisite 30B organoclay (Cl30B) containing the hydroxyethyl fragments in the surfactant structure on polyamide 6 (PA 6) / functionalized polyolefin (fPO) – a mixture of linear low-density polyethylene and ethylene copolymer with higher olefin – on the structure, mechanical and rheological properties of the materials was studied. The fPO concentration in the blends was varied from 15 to 50 wt. %. The fPO production and the blend compounding were carried out in melt using a twin-screw mixing reactor. The organoclay in the composition of the blends was introduced in two ways: simultaneously with all polymer components (one-step process) and with its preliminary localization in the PA 6 phase (two-step process). It was established that the complex of static and dynamic mechanical and also rheological characteristics of materials and the crystallisability of the components in the blends depend on the way of the Cl30B distribution in the PA6 and fPO phases, as well as on the phase structure of the blends. The organoclay localization mainly in the polyamide phase leads to a 1.3–3.0 time increase of the impact strength of the blends in which fPO forms a dispersed phase and increases their deformation capacity under tension up to 1.2 times regardless of the phase structure. The organoclay blends localized in the PA 6 phase have increased the values of melt flowability and mechanical loss angle tangent at the PA 6 a-relaxation transition and dynamic shear modulus in the temperature range from –100 to 150 °С compared to the materials produced by one-stage technology, which is explained by the blocking of organoclay amide and other polar groups in the structure of PA6 macromolecules in the polyamide phase and by a decrease as a result of this intensity of interfacial interactions with fPO.