STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF MOLDED POLYBLENDS CONTAINING LIQUID-CRYSTALLINE POLYMERS

The relationship between the microstructure developed during injection molding of liquid crystalline polymers (LCPs) containing blends and their mechanical properties, was studied. A wholly aromatic copolyester LCP was melt blended in various levels with polycarbonate (PC), poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT), Nylon 6 (N-6), and amorphous nylon (AN). In all cases the LCP was the minor component. The resulting injection molded structure had a distinct skin core morphology, where elongated fibrous LCP particles comprised the skin layer and spherical and ellipsoidal ones composed the core section. The highest elongation and the finest diameter LCP fibrils were obtained with AN/LCP system, followed by PC/LCP. PBT/LCP blends showed a coarser morphology, while N-6/LCP system did not correlate with the tensile moduli of the injection molded specimens. AN/LCP blends demonstrated the highest moduli values, consistent with the highest orientations observed using electron microscopy, followed by PC/LCP, PBT/LCP, and N-6/LCP. Finally, tensile strength levels were correlated with both orientation levels and interfacial adhesion between the polyblend components. AN/LCP that exhibited the highest orientation and good adhesion appearance gave the highest tensile strength values followed by PC/LCP, PBT/LCP, and N-6/LCP polyblends.