Title: Interfacial interaction of clay with binary blends of polyamide 6 with High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and HDPE-graft-acrylic acid studied by Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy

Authors: Yan Zhu, Zhengping Fang, Yuzhen Xu, Lifang Tong

Addresses: Institute of Polymer Composites, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, PR China. ' Lab of Polymer Materials and Engineering, Ningbo Institute of Technology, Zhejiang University, Ningbo 315100, PR China. ' Institute of Polymer Composites, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, PR China. ' Institute of Polymer Composites, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, PR China

Abstract: Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy (PALS) has been utilised to investigate the free-volume properties of polyamide 6 (PA-6)/HDPE, PA-6/HDPE-graft-acrylic acid (PEAA) and their nanocomposites with organo-clay (Oclay). There is a great difference in the average size of free-volume holes (R) and the fractional free-volume (f_v) of PA-6 and HDPE owing to their different polarity. And the variations of R and f_v as functions of Oclay content are different between two blends. In PA-6/HDPE system, when added 1.2 per hundred resin (phr) and 2.4 phr Oclay, R and f_v increased slightly, while in PA-6/PEAA system, R and f_v decreased. The complicated relationship between the free-volume and the Oclay content is due to the interaction effect of Oclay on blends| interface.

Keywords: PAS; positron annihilation spectroscopy; clay; free-volume; HDPE; high-density polyethylene; blend interfaces; polyamide 6; positron annihilation lifetime; nanocomposites; organo-clay; interfacial interaction; clays.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMPT.2010.031435

International Journal of Materials and Product Technology, 2010 Vol.37 No.3/4, pp.358 - 368

Published online: 03 Feb 2010 *

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