Liquid crystalline polymer blends as a route to self-reinforcing nanocomposites

Blending is a widely used technique for improving the mechanical, rheological, and degradative properties of various polymeric materials. It offers the opportunity to formulate a material with more desirable characteristics than either of the individual components. From industrial perspectives, polymer blends with continuous microstructure exhibit good impact properties when compared with blends exhibiting non-continuous microstructure. In this study the effects of processing parameters on the morphological developments and the mechanical properties of LCP/PET blends were investigated through two techniques: SEM; to examine morphological changes, and tensile testing; to determine the mechanical property dependence of the processing parameters, such as mixing speeds, injection speeds, and melt temperatures. The correlation between structure development during injection molding, and the modulus of injection molded PET/LCP blends were studied. Process parameters such as injection speed and melt temperature were varied to determine the effect of these parameters on the modulus and structure of the blends. The extension of this study to the situation whereby nano sized liquid crystalline domains are formed in the matrix of commercial grade thermoplastics, in a reactive extrusion process, is discussed.