Comparative study of different maleic anhydride grafted compatibilizer precursors towards LDPE/PA6 blends: Morphology and mechanical properties

The study deals with the effectiveness of maleic anhydride grafted styrene-b-ethylene-co-propylene copolymer (SEPMA) as compatibilizer precursor (CP) for blends of low density polyethylene (LDPE) with polyamide-6 (PA). The CP was produced by grafting MA onto SEP in the melt. The specific interactions between the CP and the blends components have been investigated through characterizations of the binary LDPE/CP and PA/CP blends. The compatibilizing efficiency of the MA-grafted SEP, as revealed by the thermal properties and the morphology of the compatibilized blends, has been shown to be excellent. The morphology, as well as the mechanical properties of the compatibilized with SEPMA 75/25 w/w and 25/75 w/w LDPE/PA6 blends have been compared with those of the blends compatibilized with maleic anhydride functionalized HDPE sample (1-HDPE-g-MA) and with a commercial maleic anhydride grafted styrene-b-(ethylene-co-1-butene)-b-styrene copolymer (SEBSMA1). The results show that the strong compatibilizing efficiency of SEPMA is comparable with that of SEBSMA1, while 1-HDPE-g-MA exhibits a slightly lower activity, particularly for the blends, in which PA is the matrix phase.