Crystallization behavior of polypropylene/polyamide 6/montmorillonite nanocomposites

Polymer blended materials such as polyamide 6 (PA6)/polypropylene (PP) blends have received considerable attention in recent years. To improve the compatibility of PA6 and PP, compatibilizers like maleic anhydride-g-polypropylene (MPP) are often added. In addition, organically modified montmorillonite (MMT) is also used to improve the properties of various materials. In this work, the crystallization behavior of PP/PA6/MMT nanocomposites with MPP compatibilizer was investigated systematically. The annealing process effectively improved the crystallization of alpha-PP. The crystallization temperature (T-c) of PA6 was increased by ca2-3 degrees C on introducing MPP or MMT alone to the PP/PA6 system, whereas T-c of PP underwent no obvious change. However, when MPP and MMT were added simultaneously, T-c of PP and PA6 increased by 6.6 and 4.2 degrees C, respectively, and a new crystallization peak corresponding to PP-g-PA6 copolymer phase was observed at 162.5 degrees C. The combined effect of MPP and MMT led to better compatibility of PP with PA6. Moreover, the results of a non-isothermal crystallization kinetics experiment revealed that the simultaneous introduction of MPP and MMT markedly shortened the crystallization time. (C) 2010 Society of Chemical Industry