Morphological and Mechanical Properties of Poly (Butylene Terephthalate)‎High-Density Polyethylene Blends

Abstract EN

Poly (butylene terephthalate) (PBT) is a popular thermoplastic polyester resin but has low strength and low melting point.

To improve its properties, PBT is often mixed with other resins, such as high-density polyethylene (HDPE).

In this study, PBT/HDPE samples with 100% PBT, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 100% HDPE are generated and tested.

The samples are analyzed by tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength, and SEM tests.

Adding HDPE will reduce tensile strength compared to pure PBT, in which 5%, 10%, and 15% PBT/HDPE samples obtain the values 40.23, 38.11, and 27.77 MPa, respectively.

These values are lower than that of pure PBT but still higher than that of HDPE.

Improving the HDPE portion mostly results in decreasing flexural strength.

The flexural strengths of these samples are 87.79, 70.47, 55.3, 58.98, and 19.14 MPa corresponding to 100% PBT, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 100% HDPE samples, respectively.

Moreover, the SEM microstructure of PBT and HDPE indicates a two-phase heterogeneous mixture with little or no adhesion between these phases.