Orientation of the skin layer in molded blends of thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer and polyamide 6

The morphological characteristics and/or orientation of the skin and core layers of the plaques injection-molded at a temperature below the melting point of liquid crystal polymer (LCP) phases were examined. Three resins were used: liquid crystalline thermotropic polymer in the form of extruded pellets; thermoplastic polyamide 6 in the form of pellets; and two-functional epoxy resin in the form of flakes. The surface skin layer with orientation in the transverse direction grows as thick as 60-120 μm during injection molding with extruded LCP fibril/thermoplastic pellets. On the other hand, the sub-skin layer is oriented perpendicularly to the surface skin.