Effect of organoclay platelets on morphology of nylon-6 and poly(ethylene-ran-propylene) rubber blends

The effect of organoclay platelets on morphologies of three blend compositions (80/20, 20/80, and 99.5/0.5 w/w) of nylon-6 (N6) and poly(ethylene-ran-propylene) rubber (EPR) has been studied by scanning and transmission electron micrographs. For the 80/20 (w/w) N6/ERP blend, the dispersed domain size (D) of EPR phase in the N6 matrix decreased significantly even if a small amount of the organoclay was added. The extent of the decrease in D in this blend was similar to N6/EPR blend with an in-situ reactive compatibilizer of EPR-g-maleic anhydride. The D of the blend with the clay did not change upon further annealing at high temperatures, which suggests that the clay seems to be an effective compatibilizer. But, for the 20/80 (w/w) N6/EPR blend, dispersed N6 domain did not decrease with increasing the amount of the clay up to 2 wt%. Moreover, the dispersed N6 domains were not stable against further annealing at high temperatures; thus, coalescence of N6 domains was observed. Furthermore, for 99.5/0.5 (w/w) N6/EPR blend dispersed EPR domains did not change with the amount of the clay. The results indicate that as long as the clay becomes exfoliated in the matrix, the exfoliated clay plates effectively prevent the coalescence of the dispersed domains.