Preparation and Properties of a Novel Microcrystalline Cellulose-Filled Composites Based on Polyamide 6/High-Density Polyethylene

Shihua Xu; Shunmin Yi; Jun He; Haigang Wang; Yiqun Fang; Qingwen Wang

doi:10.3390/ma10070808

Preparation and Properties of a Novel Microcrystalline Cellulose-Filled Composites Based on Polyamide 6/High-Density Polyethylene

Materials (Basel). 2017 Jul 16;10(7):808. doi: 10.3390/ma10070808.

Authors

Shihua Xu¹, Shunmin Yi², Jun He³, Haigang Wang⁴, Yiqun Fang⁵, Qingwen Wang^{6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Bio-based Material Science and Technology (Ministry of Education), Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China. xush@nefu.edu.cn.
² Key Laboratory of Bio-based Material Science and Technology (Ministry of Education), Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China. binshanmu@nefu.edu.cn.
³ Nanjing Xuhua Sundi New Building Materials Co., Ltd., Nanjing 211224, China. xush@nefu.edu.cn.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Bio-based Material Science and Technology (Ministry of Education), Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China. hgwang@nefu.edu.cn.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Bio-based Material Science and Technology (Ministry of Education), Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China. yqfang@nefu.edu.cn.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Bio-based Material Science and Technology (Ministry of Education), Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China. qwwang@scau.edu.cn.
⁷ College of Materials and Energy, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. qwwang@scau.edu.cn.

Abstract

In the present study, lithium chloride (LiCl) was utilized as a modifier to reduce the melting point of polyamide 6 (PA6), and then 15 wt % microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was compounded with low melting point PA6/high-density polyethylene (HDPE) by hot pressing. Crystallization analysis revealed that as little as 3 wt % LiCl transformed the crystallographic forms of PA6 from semi-crystalline to an amorphous state (melting point: 220 °C to none), which sharply reduced the processing temperature of the composites. LiCl improved the mechanical properties of the composites, as evidenced by the fact that the impact strength of the composites was increased by 90%. HDPE increased the impact strength of PA6/MCC composites. In addition, morphological analysis revealed that incorporation of LiCl and maleic anhydride grafted high-density polyethylene (MAPE) improved the interfacial adhesion. LiCl increased the glass transition temperature of the composites (the maximum is 72.6 °C).

Keywords: lithium chloride; melting point; microcrystalline cellulose; polyamide 6/high-density polyethylene.