Morphology and Mechanical Properties of HDPE reinforced with PET Microfibres

R. SELTZER; L. FASCE; P. FRONTINI; J. RODRIGUEZ PITA,; E. PACHECO; M. LOPES DIAS

Sydney

Conferencia; Australasian Conference on Composite Materials ACCM4; 2004

In this work compatibilized blends of PET and high density polyethylene (HDPE) with 1% and 7% ethylene/methacrylic acid copolymer (Nucrel®) have been prepared and their morphology and mechanical properties have been compared with those of the same uncompatiblized blends. Aiming to induce different morphologies the pellets of the blends were processed by three different procedures: compression molding, extrusion and extrusion followed by annealing. In every case, HDPE constituted the matrix and PET was the dispersed phase. PET adopted a nodular morphology in the compression molded samples, it took the form of microfibers (microfibrillar reinforced composites) in extruded samples, and it appeared flake like in the annealed extruded samples. According to tensile and fracture tests, extruded blends having 7% Nucrel appeared as the optimum combination of processing method and compatibilizer content.