Investigation of the effect of SSP in stabilizing the structure of condensation polymer blends via rheological measurements

We investigated the influence of solid-state polymerization (SSP) process on the reactions that could be taken place at the interphase of polycondensation polymer blends to stabilize the structure obtained after melt mixing. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyamide 66 (PA66) were melt blended in a mixer, and subsequent SSP process was performed for each sample. FTIR spectra indicated reactions between two polymers. Viscosity behavior and interfacial slip were investigated by measuring shear viscosity of components and blends before and after SSP and then compared with the viscosity calculated from the log-additivity model. The results showed that after SSP, there was no sign of interfacial slip, the slope of viscosity reduction with increasing shear rate became smaller, and the viscosity of blends showed positive deviation at all examined shear rate from the log-additivity model while this deviation was negative at higher shear rate before SSP. SEM micrographs, which were taken after shear stress was imposed on the samples, also indicated the morphological stability after SSP. Furthermore, we studied the effect of functional groups concentration on the reactions at the interphase by using hydrolyzed PET as a precursor for blends. The results showed that slip at the interface would decrease with increasing functional groups of the precursors. These results are particularly valuable for using recycled polymers.