Investigation of reactive polymer-polymer interface using nanomechanical mapping

A nanomechanical mapping technique was used to investigate the interface of the polymer blend. Uncompatibilized POE/PA6 (80/20) and reactive compatibilized POE grafted maleic anhydride/PA6 blends were prepared with a micro twin-screw extruder. Nanomechanical mapping measurements were operated in the Force Volume (FV) mode on a MultiMode AFM system with a NanoScope V controller. The reactive compatibilization of polyolefin/nylon blends was widely studied for obtaining high-performance materials. The round and blue particles show higher Young's modulus is assigned to the disperse phase PA6 component, while the red areas show lower modulus is assigned to the POE or grafting POE component. A line section across the interface indicated by the white line in Young's modulus map shows the transition between Young's modulus of the two polymer phases in uncompatibilized blend is sharp while it becomes much wider in the compatibilized blend.