Toughening Polyethylene Naphthalate (PEN) by Functionalized Acrylate Elastomers

Polyesters are extensively utilized across various fields due to their superior physical and chemical properties; enhancing the toughness of polyesters is currently imperative for extending their applications. In this study, a novel acrylate elastomer (BMH_x) with controllable hydroxyl groups was designed to melt-blend with polyethylene naphthalene (PEN), to enhance the fracture toughness of PEN. The hydroxyl group in BMH_x can effectively enhance the compatibility of PEN and BMH_x, thus reducing the average particle size of BMH_x to endow it to disperse in PEN more uniformly, leading to a high toughness PEN material. The tensile toughness of PEN/BMH₁₀ can reach 4.01 MJ/m³, and the notched impact strength is 8.02 kJ/m², which are 18 times and 3.8 times higher than that of PEN, respectively. These findings provide a new strategy to toughen the polyester and thus a general usefulness.