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

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.