4. Conclusion
The creation of new materials through polymer blending is an economic
route to tailor products with desired properties. Polymer blends
of PTT and BioPE have been successfully processed and characterized.
The phase morphology played a crucial role for the polymer blends in
terms of mechanical properties. The tensile properties were influenced
by the BioPE phase when the PE content was high. Since the flexural
propertieswere not as affected by themorphology, a balance in properties
was seen between the values of the neat polymers. Again, the morphology
was a major factor for the notched Izod impact strength. After
the blend went from being co-continuous to PTT as the major phase,
the impact strength increased to values greater than the neat polymers.
On the other hand, when BioPE was the major phase of the blend, the
distribution of PTT was poor and the spheres were of irregular size
and shape. This heterogeneity in the blend system caused the impact
strength to reduce below the properties of each individual polymer.
Based on the analysis of its properties, the PTT/BioPE (80/20) wt.%
blend presented the bestmaterial performance. The tensile and flexural
properties of this blend balanced well in stiffness and toughness. There
was improvement to the impact strength of this blend by 64% when
compared to PTT values.