EFFECT OF BLEND RHEOLOGY ON THE TRANSPORT PROPERTY OF ORIENTED POLY(ETHYLENE-TEREPHTHALATE) BLENDS

Rheological studies were performed to delineate appropriate stretching windows, and poly(ethylene terephthalate)/poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) blend films were extruded biaxially within such processing windows. The morphology and oxygen permeability properties of these films, with and without a compatibilizer, were characterized The intent of this study was to achieve a blend oxygen permeability value (OPV) of less than 1. At a fixed draw ratio and draw temperature, appropriate rheological matching could lead to an increase in the aspect ratio of the EVOH phase and, thereby, of oxygen barrier properties. This study concludes that by melt viscosity matching it is not possible to obtain blends with OPV of less than 1. The model of Fricke, used to predict blend permeability, was found to be more accurate at the higher draw temperatures, with the measured values deviating increasingly negatively from the predicted values as the draw temperature is decreased. (C) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.