Interface Strengthening of PS/aPA Polymer Blend Nanocomposites via In Situ Compatibilization: Enhancement of Electrical and Rheological Properties

The process of strengthening interfaces in polymer blend nanocomposites (PBNs) has been studied extensively, however a corresponding significant enhancement in the electrical and rheological properties is not always achieved. In this work, we exploit the chemical reaction between polystyrene maleic anhydride and the amine group in nylon (polyamide) to achieve an in-situ compatibilization during melt processing. Herein, nanocomposites were made by systematically adding polystyrene maleic anhydride (PSMA) at different compositions (1–10 vol%) in a two-step mixing sequence to a Polystyrene (PS)/Polyamide (aPA) blend with constant composition ratio of 25:75 (PS + PSMA:aPA) and 1.5 vol% carbon nanotube (CNT) loading. The order of addition of the individual components was varied in two-step mixing procedure to investigate the effect of mixing order on morphology and consequently, on the final properties. The electrical and rheological properties of these multiphase nanocomposite materials were investigated. The optical microscope images show that for PS/aPA systems, CNTs preferred the matrix phase aPA, which is the thermodynamically favorable phase according to the wettability parameter calculated using Young’s equation. However, aPA’s great affinity for CNT adversely influenced the electrical properties of our blend. Adding PSMA to PS/aPA changed the structure of the droplet phase significantly. At 1.5 vol% CNT, a more regular and even distribution of the droplet domains was observed, and this produced a better framework to create more CNT networks in the matrix, resulting in a higher conductivity. For example, with only 1.5 vol% CNT in the PBN, at 3 vol% PSMA, the conductivity was 7.4 × 10−2 S/m, which was three and a half orders of magnitude higher than that seen for non-reactive PS/aPA/CNT PBN. The mechanism for the enhanced conductive network formation is delineated and the improved rheological properties due to the interfacial reaction is presented.