Effects of microcompounding process parameters on the properties of ABS/polyamide-6 blends based nanocomposites

Melt intercalation method was applied to produce acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene/polyamide-6 (ABS/ PA6) blends based organoclay nanocomposites using a conical twin-screw microcompounder. The blend was compatibilized using a maleated olefinic copolymer. The effects of microcompounding conditions such as screw speed, screw rotation-mode (co- or counter-), and material parameters such as blend composition and clay loading level on the morphology of the blends, dispersibility of nanoparticles, and mechanical properties were investigated. Furthermore, corotating screws were modified to achieve elongational flow which is efficient for obtaining dispersive mixing. The morphology was examined by SEM analysis after preferential extraction of the minor phase. Subsequently, the SEM micrographs were quantitatively analyzed using image analyzer software. The morphology of the blends indicated that processing with counter-rotation at a given screw speed yielded coarser morphology than that of processed with corotation. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that highest level of exfoliation is observed with increasing PA6 content, at 200 rpm of screw speed and in corotation mode. Also, the effects of screw speed, screw rotation mode, and screw modification were discussed in terms of XRD responses of the nanocomposites. The aspect ratio of the clay particles which were measured by performing image analysis on TEM micrographs exhibited a variation with processing conditions and they are in accordance with the modulus of the nanocomposites. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.