The Effect of α-Olefin–Maleic Anhydride Copolymer on the Rheological and Crystalline Properties and Microcellular Foaming Behavior of Polyamide 6

The α-olefin–maleic anhydride copolymer DIA as a chain extender was used to modify polyamide 6 (PA6) during melt blending. The ability to modulate this modification for PA6 has been shown to be dependent on the effects of its content on the molecular weight distribution, rheological properties, crystalline properties, mechanical properties, and foaming behavior of foam samples. By increasing the DIA content, the viscoelasticity, water contact angle, and elongation at break improved as a result of a significant decrease in water absorption and melt flow rate. Compared with raw PA6, the modified PA6 presented a relatively wider molecular weight distribution. However, the crystallinity of modified PA6 samples decreased, the double melting peaks became one peak, and the α crystallites at 20.3° gradually disappeared with increasing DIA content. The morphologies of composite foams with different contents were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy. It was found that the cell size of different PA6 samples decreased from 160 μm to 83 μm and the cell density increased from 1.1 × 10(5) cells/cm(3) to 5.9 × 10(5) cells/cm(3) when the content of DIA increased from 0 wt% to 5 wt%. Meanwhile, the cell morphology obviously improved and the cell size distribution became narrow. Thus, a preparation technology based on foaming materials with excellent performance, such as better bubble quality and low water absorption, was developed for further research and application.