Thermal and mechanical properties of polyamide 6/poly(vinyl alcohol) blends with and without peroxides

Polyamide 6 (PA6)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) blends of different compositions (90/10, 80/20, 70/30, 60/40) were prepared using Haake rheomixer. The selected blend compositions (80/20 and 60/40) were modified with peroxides (dicumyl peroxide—DCP and tertiary butyl cumyl peroxide—TBCP). The thermal and mechanical properties of the blends were studied. The thermal stability of blends is found to be intermediate to that of PA6 and PVOH. There is no significant change in thermal stability with the addition of peroxides. The FTIR studies proved good interaction between the components in blend systems. The DSC measurements showed reduction in crystallinity of PA6 with the addition of PVOH. The crystallinity further reduced with the addition of peroxides to the blends, due to the formation of crosslink network. The MFI values decreased with the addition of PVOH and peroxides. The PA6/PVOH blends showed poor mechanical properties, whereas the properties were improved with the addition of peroxides to PA6/PVOH blends.