Phase structure and crystallization behavior of polyethylene in its blends with cis-1,4-butadiene rubber

Phase structure and crystallization behavior of polyethylene (PE) in its blends with cis-1,4-butadiene rubber (BR) at different blend ratios and sample preparation conditions were studied. The PE is finely dispersed in the BR matrix. For samples hot pressed at 145 °C, circular PE microdomains with randomly oriented PE lamellar aggregates were produced. The domain size and number increase with increasing PE content. When the PE content is over 10 wt%, most of the PE domains impinged each other. The separated PE domains are connected by PE stripes with parallel arranged lamellar aggregates. For samples hot pressed at 140 °C, elongated PE microdomains with oriented PE lamellar aggregates were obtained due to the shear flow. The crystallization of PE in the blends depends on the phase structure. Confined crystallization of PE occurs in small microdomains at relatively low temperature. With the increase of domain size, the crystallization ability of PE increases while the confined crystallization decreases.