Facile preparation and immediate effect of novel flow modifiers for engineering the flowability of high-filled composites

Abstract

This study revealed that the synthesis of effective flow modifiers using diamine monomers and fatty acid reduces the melt viscosity of polyamide 66 (PA66) composites. Moreover, the study provided insights into the rheological and mechanical properties of these reinforced polymers. In particular, the oligomers hexamethylenediamide, dodecamethylene diamide, 4,4'-methylenebis(cyclohexylamide) (i.e., HMDA, DMDA, MCHA) to modify the PA66 were prepared from hexamethylenediamine, dodecamethylene diamine, 4,4'-methylenebis(cyclohexylamine). The synthesized modifiers showed thermal stability in the PA66 processing temperature. Further, the chemical similarity increased due to amide bonds in the backbone of the flow modifiers, showing good compatibility with PA66. Additionally, PA66/glass fiber (GF) composites containing the flow modifier showed enhanced rheological and mechanical properties. The flow modifiers significantly improved the tensile strength and flexural modulus of the PA66/GF composites. The proposed synthetic method is straightforward, opening up a new strategy for reducing the melt viscosity of PA66 without degradation of the mechanical properties. The method improves the compatibility of the PA66/GF composites even in high amounts of GF, achieving effective polymer processing for practical applications. (C) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.