PET/LDPE REACTIVE COMPATIBILIZATION THROUGH THE CARBAMATE FUNCTIONALIZED EPM

ABSTRACT

To investigate the effect of reactive compatibilization in the immiscible poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)/low-density polyethylene (LDPE) blend, ethylene-propylene copolymer-g-methacryloyl carbamate (MEPM) was prepared and used as a reactive compatibilizer. The inter-facial reaction of carbamate group in MEPM with OH/COOH in PET was confirmed by measuring the interfacial tension between the PET and LDPE using the breaking thread method. The two-step blending process strongly influenced the blend morphology at high concentration of the dispersed phase in the blend. The MEPM showed a discrepancy in the reactive compatibilization ability with a blend sequence in the blends of different dispersed phase concentration.

Keywords:

• Reactive compatibilization
• PET/LDPE blends
• Carbamate
• Interfacial reaction
• Blend sequence

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This work was supported by the Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Advanced Functional Polymers of Korea.