Polymer blends of polyamide-6 (PA6) and poly(phenylene ether) (PPE) compatibilized by a multifunctional epoxy coupler

Abstract

A tetrafunctional epoxy monomer, N,N,N'-N' -tetraglycidyl-4,4'-diaminodiphenyl methane (TGDDM),has demonstrated to be a highly efficient reactive compatibilizer in compatibilizing the immiscible and incompatible polymer blends of polyamide-6 (PA6) and poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene ether) (PPE). This epoxy coupler can react with both PA6 and PPE to form various PA6-co-TGDDM-co-PPE mixed copolymers. These interfacially formed PAG-co-TGDDM-co-PPE copolymers tend to anchor along the interface to reduce the interfacial tension and result in finer phase domains and enhanced interfacial adhesion. A simple one-step melt blending has demonstrated to be more efficient in producing a better compatibilized PA6/PPE blend than a two-step sequential blending. The mechanical property improvement of the compatibilized blend over the uncompatibilized counterpart is very drastic, by considering the addition of a very small amount, a few fractions of 1%, of this epoxy coupling agent. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.