Effect of disperse phase structure on the optical properties of multicomponent PP blends

Shipments of plastic packaging materials have strongly increased in recent years. A major reason for the rapid growth of plastics is the versatility of these materials. Blending is a powerful method to create materials with enhanced properties at competitive costs. PP based blends are very promising in these area. This work presents results obtained for ternary blends of polypropylene, linear low-density polyethylene and different ethylene-propylene rubbers. The effect of elastomer viscosity and co-monomer content, blend composition on the phase morphology and optical properties were studied. The particle size distribution of the dispersed phase was studied by TEM. The crystalline structure of the PP matrix was analyzed by DSC and WAXS. Transparency was studied by measuring the light transmitted through specimens of blends placed between polarizers.