Effect of ethylene–propylene copolymers on the phase morphologies and properties of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene: Dissipative particle dynamics simulations and experimental studies
writer：Gai Jing-Gang*. Yuan Zuo
keywords：Dissipative particle dynamics，ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene
source：期刊
specific source：Mater. Sci. Eng., A. 2011, 529(25), 21-28
Issue time：2011年
This work aims to
experimentally and theoretically study the effects of ethylene–propylene
copolymers as compatibilizer on the phase morphologies, interfacial properties,
rheological behaviors and mechanical properties of ultrahigh molecular weight
polyethylene/homopolymerized polypropylene (UHMWPE/HPP) blends. The results
indicate that the addition of ethylene–propylene block copolymer EPS30R or
random copolymer DP3000 ranging within 1–3 parts per hundred parts (phr) of UHMWPE/HPP
blends can remarkably reduce the sizes of the UHMWPE particles and
significantly improve the mechanical property such as tensile strength and
elongation at break. Moreover, the ternary blends still show two-phase
morphologies, and the favorable melt flowability of the UHMWPE/HPP blends can
be basically maintained. Besides, dissipative particle dynamics simulations on
the ternary UHMWPE/HPP/ethylene–propylene copolymer blends indicate that with
fixed mole number of the block copolymer, longer block chains have higher
efficiency on reducing the interfacial tension than the shorter ones. But for
the block copolymers with fixed volume fraction, interfacial tensions firstly
decrease and then increase with increasing the chain length of block copolymer.