The Influence of Blend Morphology (Co-Continuous or Sub-Micrometer Droplets Dispersions) on the Nucleation and Crystallization Kinetics of Double Crystalline Polyethylene/Polyamide Blends Prepared by Reactive Extrusion

Reactive blending of functionalized polyethylenes (PE) and polyamides (PA) is performed by carefully choosing extrusion conditions and polymeric materials in order to obtain two types of stable morphologies. The first blend type yields a co-continuous morphology and the second type a dispersion of sub-micron droplets of the PA phase in a PE matrix. The crystallization kinetics of the PA change from a sigmoidal classical type (for the co-continuous blend) to first-order kinetics in the case of the sub-micron PA droplets. The results demonstrate an intimate relationship between blend morphology and nucleation and crystallization kinetics of the blend components.