THE EFFECT OF MODIFIED NATURAL RUBBER COMPATIBILISERS ON POLYAMIDE 6/NATURAL RUBBER BLENDS

Polyamide 6 was blended with natural rubber to provide impact toughness. The blend was compatibilised with maleic anhydride modified natural rubber as a third component in the blends. The modified rubber compatibilised the polyamide 6/natural rubber blends by forming some copolymer between the two phases. The resultant blends had a finer dispersion of natural rubber in the polyamide 6 matrix. Charpy impact strength and tensile properties were improved, giving intermediate performance between polyamide 6 and commercial high impact polyamide 6. The rheological behaviour was affected by the in situ copolymerisation during mixing, with mixing torque increasing as the reaction took place. The polyamide 6 crystallisation was nucleated both by the addition of the natural rubber and by the compatibilisers.