Compatibility analysis of Nylon 6 and poly(ethylene-n-butyl acrylate-maleic anhydride) elastomer blends using isothermal crystallization kinetics

Nylon 6 is a widely used engineering polymer, and has relatively poor impact strength. Ethylene, n-Butyl acrylate, maleic anhydride (E-nBA-MAH) terpolymer is blended with Nylon 6 to enhance its impact strength. Mixture should be compatible to be used in applications. The bare interaction energy between Nylon 6 and E-nBA-MAH terpolymer is calculated according to melting point depression approach using both Flory-Huggins (FH) Theory and Sanchez-Lacombe Equation of State (SL EOS). It demonstrates that blends are thermodynamically favorable to any arrangements. Yet, isothermal crystallization kinetics and WAXS crystallization peaks of blends reveal that mixtures of various compositions have different crystallization behaviors and require alternating crystallization energy due to crystalline structures of individual polymers. Also, SEM images support that after 5% addition of elastomeric terpolymer, interaction loosens due to strong crystalline structure of Nylon 6.