Effective nondestructive evaluations on UHMWPE/Recycled-PA6 blends using FTIR imaging and dynamic mechanical analysis

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd The noninvasive and nondestructive Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) imaging and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) are developed in this work to evaluate the microstructure-related properties of UHMWPE/Recycled-PA6 blends. FTIR imaging which is of in-situ and visualizing capabilities is shown to be extremely valuable in determining the phase structure of a multiphase system. It is found that small quantities of the HDPE-g-MAH compatibilizer could significantly improve the miscibility of the two immiscible polymers. It is further proved that in the UHMWPE/R-PA6 blends the R-PA6 phase distributes continuously, while the UHMWPE phase disperses in a discontinuous manner. Moreover, the blends with 44 wt% R-PA6 is found to exhibit an optimal miscibility behavior. This work demonstrates that FTIR imaging is a direct method in visualizing the miscibility of polymer blends. The combined FTIR imaging and DMA testing offers a new approach for qualitative and quantitative investigations on polymer blends with complex microstructures