Preparation of Polyethylene and Ethylene/Methacrylic Acid Copolymer Blend Films with Tunable Surface Properties through Manipulating Processing Parameters during Film Blowing

Abstract

Polymer films based on polyethylene (PE) and ionomer ethylene/methacrylic acid (EMAA) copolymer blend were prepared by film blowing, whose surface properties were tuned by varying processing parameters, i.e., take up ratio (TUR). Blends of PE/EMAA copolymer were firstly prepared by the melt-mixing method, before being further blown to films. The wettability of the film was investigated by measuring the contact angle/water-film encounter time, and optical properties, i.e., the haze and transmittance. The wettability was found to be enhanced with the increase of TUR. So too was the haze, while the transmittance was found to be almost independent of TUR. The XPS and AFM results directly show the increasing polar functional groups (–COO−) on the surface and roughness with increasing TUR. Further analysis of the 2D SAXS and WAXS unveiled the origin of the invariant transmittance, which resulted from the minor change of the crystallinity and the monotonic increase of the haze, with TUR resulting from the evolution of crystal orientation. In addition to other post-modification methods, the current study provides an alternative route to prepare large-scale PE films as the template for the advanced potential applications, i.e., covering in the layer of roof, the privacy of protective windows, and multitudes of packaging.

Transparent ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene/MXene films with efficient UV-absorption for thermal management

“…This relationship is attributed to the regular arrangement of molecules and the lower crystallinity, which help reduce the scattering of light in the film and improve the transmittance. The UHMWPE-based composite films developed in this research have high light transmittance and low haze, and these properties are better than those of most UHMWPE products and even LLDPE 45 – 49 . Compared with the latter, UHMWPE exhibited improved mechanical properties and corrosion resistance, so UHMWPE products with excellent optical properties are highly desirable.…”

Transparent EVA film with spectrally selective blocking capacity of ultraviolet and high-energy visible light

“…The haze value for all EVA films was below 10.0%. It is well known that the transmittance of the film is closely related to the inner crystallinity [36] while the haze originates mainly from its surface and inside roughness [37, 38]. The almost identical transmittance for all EVA films indicates the inner crystallinity may remain almost unchanged when filled by UV326 and PY14.…”

Melting Temperature Depression of Polymer Single Crystals: Application to the Eco-Design of Tie-Layers in Polyolefinic-Based Multilayered Films

“…It should be noted that PE blends with EEA are rare in the literature. On the contrary, as stated in the Introduction section, PE/EVA [25][26][27][28][29][30] and PE/EMAA [31][32][33] blends have been extensively studied, and in general, incompatibility has been reported. It should be Figure 3B show details of the high-temperature peaks corresponding to the melting of single crystals surrounded by melted amorphous matrices for each of the PE0.0 (left) and PE_ZN (right) mixtures.…”

“…The studies focused on blends of PE with EEA copolymers are quite limited [22][23][24]. Conversely, the study of PE blends with EVA [25][26][27][28][29][30] and EMAA [31][32][33] has generated an interesting number of publications. In general, incompatibility is reported, but it is not easy to find systematic studies about the effect of the molecular architecture of the polymers in the compatibility.…”