Study on processing of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene/polypropylene blends: Capillary flow properties and microstructure

The capillary flow properties and morphologies of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene/polypropylene (UHMWPE/PP) blends were studied. The results show that UHMWPE is difficult to process. The melts flowed unsteadily at lower shear rate. With 10 wt % PP contained in the UHMWPE/PP blends, the apparent melt viscosity was much lower than that of UHMWPE. When the PP content increased to 20 and 30 wt %, no pressure vibration occurred throughout the whole shear rate range. Microstructure analysis showed that PP prefers to locate in the amorphous or low crystallinity zones of the UHMWPE matrix. The flow-ability of UHMWPE increased substantially with the addition of PP. The addition of PE could not effectively reduce the chain entanglement density of UHMWPE. The improvement of processability of UHMWPE by the addition of PE was rather limited. (C) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.