DYNA JOURNAL ENGINEERING

Key words:

Mezclado de polímeros, composites termoplásticos, compatibilizante, morfología fibrilar, viscosidad, tixotropía, Polymer blending, Thermoplastic composites, Compatibilizer, Fibrillar morphology, Viscosity, Thixotropic behavior,

Article type:

ARTICULO DE INVESTIGACION / RESEARCH ARTICLE

Section:

RESEARCH ARTICLES

In this work, polymeric blends based on polypropylene (PP) combined with cyclic butylene terephthalate (CBT) and maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (PP-g-AM) have been prepared and studied for applications in thermoplastic composites and as multimaterial composites for automotive industry. The principal aim has been to reduce the melt viscosity of thermoplastic matrixes to values similar to thermosetting ones in order to be able to use more economic equipment for the thermoplastic composites development.. For that purpose, different polymeric blends of CBT/PP have been prepared, and the effect of the addition of a PP-g-AM compatibilizer in the fibrillar morphology and in the rheological behavior of the compounds has been analyzed. For compatibilized blends, apart from a substantial reduction of the size of CBT, a thixotropic behavior has been observed, with a marked reduction of the viscosity at the beginning of the shear test followed by a slight restoration at the conclusion of the shear stress. Stationary values as low as 20000 mPa.s have been registered which corresponds with a reduction greater than 90% from PP viscosity.

Keywords: Polymer blending, thermoplastic composites, compatibilizer , fibrillar morphology, viscosity, thixotropic.