Study of masterbatch effect on miscibility and morphology in PET/HDPE blends

Abstract

The present work studies the morphology in poly(ethylene-terephthalate)/polyethylene (PET/HDPE) polymer blends and its impact on blend properties. Mixing process in blend preparation is the important parameter for the type of obtained blend morphology and final blend properties, so two different mixing processes were used. In the first one, all components are mixed together while another one includes two step mixing procedure using two different types of masterbatch as compatibilizers for PET/HDPE system. Such blends can be considered in terms of PET polymer recycling in the presence of HDPE impurities in order to find suitable compatibilizers, which will enhance the interactions between these two polymers and represents the possible solution in recycling of heterogeneous polymer waste. The morphology of the studied PET/HDPE blends was inspected by scanning electron microscopy to examine the influence of the mixing process and various compositions on blends morphology, and interactions between PET and HDPE. The surface properties were characterized by contact angle measurements. The effect of the extrusion on the samples thermal behaviour was followed by DSC measurements. FTIR spectroscopy was used for the determination of interactions between blend constituents. It can be concluded that the type of mixing process and the carefully chosen compatibilizer are the important factors for obtaining the improved compatibility in PET/HDPE blends.

Recycling of Bottle Grade PET: Influence of HDPE Contamination on the Microstructure and Mechanical Performance of 3D Printed Parts

“…In contrast, additions of 5 wt% and 10 wt% led to a spectacular increase in the strain at failure, well beyond the yield point. Such results were unexpected and contradict the ductile-to-brittle transition systematically observed with increasing HDPE fraction in the case of immiscible HDPE-PET blends [12,13,27]. These samples exhibited a large drop in the stress at 2.5% strain, which then gradually decreased.…”

“…Indeed, contamination of PET with other types of polymers, such as high-density polyethylene (HDPE), coming, for instance, from the bottles' caps, affects the mechanical properties of injection-molded recycled PET due to phase separation in the immiscible blend [10]. The compatibilization of these two polymers using reactive modifiers such as maleic anhydride is well-established but requires accurate processes [11][12][13].…”

Choosing an Effective Compatibilizer for a Virgin HDPE Rich-HDPE/PP Model Blend

“…The result suggests that vHDPE has a better compatibility with ethylene-based olefin block copolymer (C1). According to the literature, such decrease in interfacial tension as well as the increase in adhesive energy during the melt blending and extrusion process is evidence of good adhesion as well as core-shell formation, in which the dispersed phase is encapsulated by compatibilizer [32][33][34]. In this case, dispersed vPP in vHDPE matrix is encapsulated only by the ethylene-based olefin block copolymer (C1).…”

Macromolecular Insights into the Altered Mechanical Deformation Mechanisms of Non-Polyolefin Contaminated Polyolefins

“…A simple prediction of the blend properties by making a summation of properties is not as straightforward as expected, as most polymers mentioned above give way to immiscible, phase-separated morphologies. POs such as HDPE, LLDPE, LDPE, and PP are inherently immiscible with NPOs such as PA-6, PET, and PS [12,13]. This results from a lack of interaction between the polymer phases originating from the chemical nature of the polymers, the blend's composition, and the surrounding temperature.…”