The Effect of Compatibilizer on Morphology and Mechanical Properties of PA6/UHMWPE Blends

Abstract

This work deal with the effect of compatibilizer on the morphological and mechanic properties of polyamide 6 and ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (PA6/UHMWPE) blends. The blends were prepared by means of a twin-screw extruder. The compatibilizer was produced by grafting maleic anhydride (MAH) onto high density polyethylene (HDPE). The resulting HDPE-g-MAH was used to prepare ternary blends of PA6/HDPE-g-MAH/UHMWPE by melt mixing. The size of domain of UHMWPE in PA6/HDPE-g-MAH/UHMWPE blends is much smaller than that in PA6/UHMWPE blends. It was found that mechanical properties of PA6/HDPE-g-MAH/UHMWPE blends obviously surpassed that of PA6/UHMWPE blends. These behavior could be attributed to chemical reactions between MAH in HDPE-g-MAH and terminal amino groups of PA6. Thermal analysis were performed to confirm the possible chemical reactions taken place during the blending process.     

Morphology and properties of PBT/nylon 6/EVA‐g‐MAH ternary blends prepared by reactive extrusion

Morphology and properties of poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT)/nylon 6 (PA6)/EVA‐g‐MAH ternary blends were investigated. The blends were prepared in a corotating, intermeshing, twin‐screw extruder. The incorporation of maleic anhyride (MAH) grafted onto ethylene‐vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) (EVA‐g‐MAH) in the PBT/PA6 binary blends decreased the tensile and flexural strength but increased the impact strength, while the mechanical properties of the PBT/PA6 blends were decreased with increasing PA6 content regardless of the presence or absence of the EVA‐g‐MAH. The morphology studies of the ternary blends showed gross phase separation. The rheological properties of the ternary blends suggested that excessively high reactivity between amine end groups of PA6 and MAH grafted onto EVA makes the compatibility between PBT and PA6 worse, although EVA‐g‐MAH was expected to work as a compatibilizer for PBT/PA6 blends. The degree of reactivity between functional groups in PBT, PA6, and EVA‐g‐MAH was also examined by investigating the effect of blending sequence on the properties of the ternary blends.     

In‐process ultrasonic measurements of orientation and disorientation relaxation of high‐density polyethylene/polyamide‐6 composites with compatibilizer

The relaxation processes of orientation and disorientation of melts of high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) and polyamide‐6 (PA6) blends compatibilized with a compatibilizer precursor (CP) of HDPE‐grafted maleic anhydride (HDPE‐g‐MAH) were investigated in a restricted channel using real‐time ultrasonic technique. The experimental results showed that the evolution of ultrasonic velocity of HDPE/PA6 blends during the orientation or disorientation processes could be described by the exponential equation from which the maximum orientation degree and relaxation time could be obtained. Subsequently, the effects of CP on the relaxation processes of orientation and disorientation were studied. In addition, the relations of the CP content and the morphology and viscosity were investigated by scanning electron microscope analysis and rheological tests. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Morphology,thermal behavior,and mechanical properties of PA6/UHMWPE blends with HDPE‐g‐MAH as a compatibilizing agent

A functionalized high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) with maleic anhydride (MAH) was prepared using a reactive extruding method. This copolymer was used as a compatibilizer of blends of polyamide 6 (PA6) and ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). Morphologies were examined by a scanning electron microscope. It was found that the dimension of UHMWPE and HDPE domains in the PA6 matrix decreased dramatically, compared with that of the uncompatibilized blending system. The size of the UHMWPE domains was reduced from 35 μm (PA6/UHMWPE, 80/20) to less than 4 μm (PA6/UHMWPE/HDPE‐g‐MAH, 80/20/20). The tensile strength and Izod impact strength of PA6/UHMWPE/HDPE‐g‐MAH (80/20/20) were 1.5 and 1.6 times as high as those of PA6/UHMWPE (80/20), respectively. This behavior could be attributed to chemical reactions between the anhydride groups of HDPE‐g‐MAH and the terminal amino groups of PA6 in PA6/UHMWPE/HDPE‐g‐MAH blends. Thermal analysis was performed to confirm that the above chemical reactions took place during the blending process. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 75: 232–238, 2000     

Effect of EPDM‐g‐MAH on the morphology and properties of PA6/EPDM/HDPE ternary blends

The formation of core‐shell morphology within the dispersed phase was studied for composite droplet polymer‐blend systems comprising a polyamide‐6 matrix, ethylene‐propylene‐diene terpolymer (EPDM) shell and high density polyethylene (HDPE) core. In this article, the effect of EPDM with different molecular weights on the morphology and properties of the blends were studied. To improve the compatibility of the ternary blends, EPDM was modified by grafting with maleic anhydride (EPDM‐g‐MAH). It was found that core‐shell morphology with EPDM‐g‐MAH as shell and HDPE as core and separated dispersion morphology of EPDM‐g‐MAH and HDPE phase were obtained separately in PA6 matrix with different molecular weights of EPDM‐g‐MAH in the blends. DSC measurement indicated that there may be some co‐crystals in the blends due to the formation of core‐shell structure. Mechanical tests showed that PA6/EPDM‐g‐MAH/HDPE ternary blends with the core‐shell morphology exhibited a remarkable rise in the elongation at break. With more perfect core‐shell composite droplets and co‐crystals, the impact strength of the ternary blends could be greatly increased to 51.38 kJ m^?2, almost 10 times higher than that of pure PA6 (5.50 kJ m^?2). POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2013. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Mechanical and tribological behaviors of polyamide 66/ultra high molecular weight polyethylene blends

The blends of polyamide (PA) and ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) were prepared by a Brabender DSE25 co‐twin screw extruder, and maleic anhydride (MAH) grafted high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) was used as a compatibilizer. A chemical reaction between MAH group of MAH‐g‐HDPE and terminal amino group of PA was testified by FT‐IR analysis. Mechanical and tribological tests showed that the tensile and bending strength of PA decrease with the increase of UHMWPE. Besides, the mechanical strengths of PA/UHMWPE blends were improved by adding appropriate MAH‐g‐HDPE. The chemical reaction between MAH‐g‐HDPE and PA ameliorated the homogeneous dispersing ability of UHMWPE in the blend. The friction coefficient and volume wear rate of the PA/UHMWPE blends decreased apparently with the increase of UHMWPE, as was probably that UHMWPE has straight chain structure and good flexibility; therefore, a transferring film could be easily formed on the steel surface with the increase of UHMWPE. In friction process, the wear resistance of the blends was relative to the mechanical property of the blends when the amount of the transferring layer reached to a certain value. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 47:738–744, 2007. © 2007 Society of Plastics Engineers.     

Influence of high density polyethylene‐g‐maleic anhydride on compatibility and properties of poly(butylene terephthalate)/high density polyethylene blends

Poly(butylene terephthalate)/high density polyethylene (PBT/HDPE) blends and PBT/HDPE‐grafted maleic anhydride (PBT/HDPE‐g‐MAH) blends were prepared by the reactive extrusion approach, and the effect of blend compositions on the morphologies and properties of PBT/HDPE blends and PBT/HDPE‐g‐MAH blends was studied in detail. The results showed that flexural strength, tensile strength, and notched impact strength of PBT/HDPE blends decreased with the addition of HDPE, and flexural strength and tensile strength of PBT/HDPE‐g‐MAH blends decreased, while the notched impact strength of PBT/HDPE‐g‐MAH increased with the addition of HDPE‐g‐MAH. Compared with PBT/HDPE blends, the dimension of the dispersed phase particles in PBT/HDPE‐g‐MAH blends was decreased and the interfacial adhesion was increased. On the other hand, the effects of HDPE and HDPE‐g‐MAH contents on the crystalline and the rheological properties of the blends were also investigated. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 6081–6087, 2006     

Effect of core‐shell morphology evolution on the rheology,crystallization, and mechanical properties of PA6/EPDM‐g‐MA/HDPE ternary blend

In this article, polyamide 6 (PA6), maleic anhydride grafted ethylene‐propylene‐diene monomer (EPDM‐g‐MA), high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) were simultaneously added into an internal mixer to melt‐mixing for different periods. The relationship between morphology and rheological behaviors, crystallization, mechanical properties of PA6/EPDM‐g‐MA/HDPE blends were studied. The phase morphology observation revealed that PA6/EPDM‐g‐MA/HDPE (70/15/15 wt %) blend is constituted from PA6 matrix in which is dispersed core‐shell droplets of HDPE core encapsulated by EPDM‐g‐MA phase and indicated that the mixing time played a crucial role on the evolution of the core‐shell morphology. Rheological measurement manifested that the complex viscosity and storage modulus of ternary blends were notable higher than the pure polymer blends and binary blends which ascribed different phase morphology. Moreover, the maximum notched impact strength of PA6/EPDM‐g‐MA/HDPE blend was 80.7 KJ/m² and this value was 10–11 times higher than that of pure PA6. Particularly, differential scanning calorimetry results indicated that the bulk crystallization temperature of HDPE (114.6°C) was partly weakened and a new crystallization peak appeared at a lower temperature of around 102.2°C as a result of co‐crystal of HDPE and EPDM‐g‐MA. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Investigation on the correlation between rheology and morphology of PA6/ABS blends using ethylene acrylate terpolymer as compatibilizer

Phase morphology and rheological behavior of polyamide 6 (PA6)/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) polymers blends was studied using scanning electron microscopy and rheometry. The results showed that the phase morphology and rheological properties depends on blend composition. We evaluated the effect of addition of ABS as dispersed phase and EnBACO‐MAH (ethylene n‐butyl acrylate carbon monoxide maleic anhydride) as a compatibilizer on the morphological and rheological behaviors of PA6/ABS blends. It was concluded that there is a good agreement between the results obtained from rheological and morphological studies. As a consequence, addition of the ABS and compatibilizer weight percent led to a significant change in morphological structure and a great mounting in the viscosity as well as the elasticity. The rheological properties results demonstrate that adding compatibilizer to polymer blends led to increasing the crossover point, which shows a transition from a high viscous to a considerably more elastic behavior. Also, the slow transition of relaxation time peak from the peak of the PA6 to the peak of the ABS implies increasing the miscibility of the PA6/ABS blend components by increasing compatibilizer content. In addition, the Carreau–Yasuda model was used to extract information on rheological properties (zero shear viscosity and relaxation time) for PA6/ABS/EnBACO‐MAH blends by fitting the experimental data with this model. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Morphological,thermal, rheological,and mechanical properties of PP/EVOH blends compatibilized with PP‐g‐IA

We prepared some blends of polypropylene (PP) and ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) with and without a compatibilizer. As a new compatibilizer, we synthesized polypropylene grafted with itaconic acid (PP‐g‐IA) using Brabender mixing system. We investigated the morphological, thermal, rheological, and mechanical properties of a compatibilized blends (PP/EVOH/PP‐g‐IA) and not compatibilized blends (PP/EVOH). Our experiments showed that carboxylic acid groups in PP‐g‐IA and hydroxyl group in EVOH formed strong in situ hydrogen bond in the compatibilized blends, resulting in better morphological and mechanical properties of the compatibilized blends than those of not compatibilized blends. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 56:1240–1247, 2016. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Characterization of PA6/EPDM-g-MA/HDPE ternary blends: The role of core-shell structure

In this work, the relationship between properties and morphologies of PA6/EPDM-g-MA/HDPE ternary blends was studied. Two processing methods (one- and two-step methods) were applied to prepare the PA6/EPDM-g-MA/HDPE ternary blends. The dependence of the phase morphology on interfacial interaction and processing method was discussed here. It was found that core-shell morphology (core: HDPE, shell: EPDM-g-MA in PA6 matrix) appeared in PA6/EPDM-g-MA/HDPE ternary blends, and in comparison to the blend prepared by one-step method, the core-shell morphology with thicker EPDM-g-MA shell appeared in the blend prepared by two-step method. In this case, a super toughened PA6 ternary blends with the Izod impact strength of 72.51 kJ/m² which is 4–5 times higher than PA6/EPDM-g-MA binary blend and 9–10 times higher than pure PA6 could be achieved. Moreover, the rheological results indicated that the storage modulus of ternary blends was heavily dependent on the phase morphology. The core-shell structure with thicker EPDM-g-MA shell would weaken the contribution of interfacial energy to the storage modulus of ternary blends.     

The effect of interface characteristics on the morphology,rheology and thermal behavior of three‐component polymer alloys

Immiscible polymer blends are interesting multiphase host systems for fillers. Such systems exhibit, within a certain composition limits, either a separate dispersion of the two minor phases or a dispersion of encapsulated filler particles within the minor polymer phase. Both thermodynamic (e.g. interfacial tension) and kinetic (e.g. relative viscosity) considerations determine the morphology developed during the blending process. The effect of interfacial characteristics on the structure‐property relationships of ternary polymer alloys and blends comprising polypropylene (PP), ethylene‐vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH) and glass beads (GB), or fibers (GF), was investigated. The system studied was based on a binary PP/EVOH immiscible blend, representing a blend of a semi‐crystalline apolar polymer with a semicrystalline highly polar copolymer. Modification of the interfacial properties was obtained through using silane coupling agents for the EVOH/glass interface and compatibilization using a maleic anhydride grafted PP (MA‐g‐PP) for the PP/EVOH interface. The compatibilizer was added in a procedure aimed to preserves the encapsulated EVOH/glass structure. Blends were prepared by melt extrusion compounding and specimens by injection molding. The morphology was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high resolution SEM (HRSEM), the shear viscosity by capillary rheometry and the thermal behavior using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The system studied consisted of filler particles encapsulated by EVOH, with some of the minor EVOH component separately dispersed within the PP matrix. Modification of the interfaces resulted in unique morphologies. The aminosilane glass surface treatment enhanced the encapsulation in the ternary [PP/EVOH]GB blends, resulting in an encapsulated morphology with no separtely dispersed EVOH particles. The addition of a MA‐g‐PP compatibilizer preserves the encapsulated morphology in the ternary blends with some finely dispersed EVOH particles and enhanced PP/EVOH interphase interactions. The viscosity of the binary and ternary blends was closely related to the blend's morphology and the level of shear rate. The treated glass surfaces showed increased viscosity compared to the cleaned glass surfaces in both GB and GF containing ternary blends. Both EVOH and glass serve as nucleating agents for the PP matrix, affecting its crystallization process but not its crystalline structure. The aminosilane glass surface treatment completely inhibited the EVOH crystallization process in the ternary blend. In summary, the structure of the multicomponent blends studied has a significant effect on their behavior as depicted by the rheological and thermal behavior. The structure‐performance relationships in the three‐component blends can be controlled and varied.     

Effect of compatibilizer in acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene toughened nylon 6 blends: Ductile–brittle transition temperature

The ductile–brittle transition temperatures were determined for compatibilized nylon 6/acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene (PA6/ABS) copolymer blends. The compatibilizers used for those blends were methyl methacrylate‐co‐maleic anhydride (MMA‐MAH) and MMA‐co‐glycidyl methacrylate (MMA‐GMA). The ductile–brittle transition temperatures were found to be lower for blends compatibilized through maleate modified acrylic polymers. At room temperature, the PA6/ABS binary blend was essentially brittle whereas the ternary blends with MMA‐MAH compatibilizer were supertough and showed a ductile–brittle transition temperature at ?10°C. The blends compatibilized with maleated copolymer exhibited impact strengths of up to 800 J/m. However, the blends compatibilized with MMA‐GMA showed poor toughness at room temperature and failed in a brittle manner at subambient temperatures. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 2643–2647, 2003     

Looking back to interfacial tension prediction in the compatibilized polymer blends: Discrepancies between theories and experiments

Prediction of interfacial tension of compatibilized polymer blends is a challenging open problem, where experiments and theories hardly support each other. In this work, constitutive models proposed for quantifying the interfacial tension of compatibilized polymer blends were revisited and their limitations/capabilities were discussed. In view of available data in the literature, which could provide with possibility of comparison between interfacial tension values obtained in this work and those published before, high‐density polyethylene (HDPE)/polyamide‐6 and HDPE/polyethylene‐co‐vinyl alcohol pairs comprising varying amounts of HDPE‐g‐maleic anhydride compatibilizer precursor were prepared for obtaining model parameters. The inability of theories in monitoring the interfacial tension was accordingly uncovered. However, outcomes from both theoretical and experimental data provided some insights for elucidating the interplay between interfacial tension and rheological characteristics of the studied compatibilized blends. It was also attempted to uncover the relationships between particle size, particle size distribution, and rheological properties of blends compatibilized with different amounts of HDPE‐g‐maleic anhydride precursor. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 46144.     

Dynamic rheological behavior of reactively compatibilized polypropylene/polyamide 6 blending melts

The dynamic rheological behavior is measured by small amplitude oscillatory shear on rotational rheometer for polypropylene/polyamide 6 (PP/PA6) blends compatibilized by a polypropylene grafted maleic anhydride (PP‐g‐MAH). Scanning electron microscope (SEM) results show that the PP/PP‐g‐MAH/PA6 (=100/6/40wt) is sea‐island structure, the PP/PP‐g‐MAH/PA6 (=100/6/60wt) blend is semi‐cocontinuous. Coarse PA6 zones can be observed when the weight ratio is 100/6/80. At low frequency the complex viscosity, dynamic modulus of the PP/PP‐g‐MAH/PA6 (PP/PP‐g‐MAH = 100/6wt) blends first increase then drop with the increase of PA6 weight content in the range of 0–100, the maximum value arrives at the weight content of 60. The Cole–Cole plots as well as the weighted relaxation spectra of the blends have a main arc and a tail when the weight ratio of PP/PP‐g‐MAH/PA6 is in the range of 100/6/20–100/6/60, but have different shapes when the weight ratio increases to 100/6/80 and 100/6/100. The possible reason is the weight ratio of 100/6/80 and 100/6/100 is close to the phase inversion point. In fitting the storage modulus data at low frequency, Palierne's model with two parameters interfacial tension and interfacial shear modulus is better than Bousmina's model. Palierne's model with only one parameter of interfacial tension can not fit the data well. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42091.     

PP/EVOH/PA6共混物的性能研究

以聚丙烯接枝马来酸酐(PP-g-MAH)为相容剂,制备了聚丙烯(PP)/乙烯-乙烯醇共聚物(EVOH/)聚酰胺6(PA6)共混物,研究了PP/EVOH/PA6三元共混物的相容性、流变性能、阻隔性能、力学性能、热性能及形态结构。结果表明:相容剂与EVOH和PA6间发生了反应,提高了共混物的相容性;相容剂的加入提高了PP、EVOH、PA6的结晶温度,增强了PP与EVOH和PA6间的黏合力,降低了界面张力;EVOH占EVOH/PA6总量68%的三元共混物吸油率最小,当相容剂用量为5份时,PP/EVOH/PA6三元共混物吸油率比PP/EVOH二元共混物降低了8%。     

Preparation of HDPE/SEBS‐g‐MAH and its effect on mechanical properties of HDPE/wood flour composites

In this article, high density polyethylene/styrene‐ethylene‐butylene‐styrene block copolymer blends (HDPE/SEBS) grafted by maleic anhydride (HDPE/SEBS‐g‐MAH), which is an effective compatibilizer for HDPE/wood flour composites was prepared by means of torque rheometer with different contents of maleic anhydride (MAH). The experimental results indicated that MAH indeed grafted on HDPE/SEBS by FTIR analysis and the torque increased with increasing the content of maleic anhydride and dicumyl peroxide (DCP). Styrene may increase the graft reaction rate of MAH and HDPE/SEBS. When HDPE/SEBS MAH was added to HDPE/wood flour composites, tensile strength and flexural strength of composites can reach 25.9 and 34.8 MPa in comparison of 16.5 and 23.8 MPa (without HDPE/SEBS‐g‐MAH), increasing by 157 and 146%, respectively. Due to incorporation of thermoplastic elastomer in HDPE/SEBS‐g‐MAH, the Notched Izod impact strength reached 5.08 kJ m^?2, increasing by 145% in comparison of system without compatibilizer. That HDPE/SEBS‐g‐MAH improved the compatibility was also conformed by dynamic mechanical measurement. Scanning electron micrographs provided evidence for strong adhesion between wood flour and HDPE matrix with addition of HDPE/SEBS‐g‐MAH. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007     

Compatibilizing effect of ethylene–propylene–diene grafted maleic anhydride terpolymer on the blend of polyamide 66 and thermal liquid crystalline polymer

Polyamide 66–thermal liquid crystalline polymer (PA66/TLCP) composites containing 10 wt% TLCP was compatibilized by ethylene–propylene–diene‐grafted maleic anhydride terpolymer (MAH‐g‐EPDM). The blending was performed on a twin‐screw extrusion, followed by an injection molding. The rheological, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), thermal, mechanical properties, as well as the morphology and FTIR spectra, of the blends were investigated and discussed. Rheological, DMA, and FTIR spectra results showed that MAH‐g‐EPDM is an effective compatibilizer for PA66/TLCP blends. The mechanical test indicated that the tensile strength, tensile elongation, and the bending strength of the blends were improved with the increase of the content of MAH‐g‐EPDM, which implied that the blends probably have a great frictional shear force, resulting from strong adhesion at the interface between the matrix and the dispersion phase; while the bending modulus was weakened with the increase of MAH‐g‐EPDM content, which is attributed to the development of the crystalline phase of PA66 hampered by adding MAH‐g‐EPDM. POLYM. COMPOS., 27:608–613, 2006. © 2006 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Melt-neutralization of maleic anhydride grafted on high-density polyethylene compatibilizer for polyamide-6/high-density polyethylene blend: effect of neutralization level on compatibility of the blend

Blends of polyamide-6 (PA-6) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) with blend ratios of 80/20 (wt/wt) and 20/80 (wt/wt) were studied using zinc-neutralized maleic anhydride (MAH) grafted HDPE as compatibilizers. MAH groups were hydrolyzed and neutralized with different amounts of zinc acetate dihydrate in a twin-screw extruder to produce different levels of zinc-neutralization (0, 14, 41, 69, and 95 %) at one and ten parts per hundred of resin of compatibilizer. Melt neutralization of MAH was confirmed by X-ray fluorescence, FT–IR, and rheological properties. SEM micrographs showed a large reduction in the dispersed phase size in the compatibilized blends. Tensile measurements showed improvement of tensile strength for all compatibilized blends; moreover, the elongation at break of compatibilized blends at 10 phr of compatibilizer was improved. Blending increased the crystallization temperature for the PA-6, and the addition of compatibilizer reduced the crystallization temperature slightly. A significant increase in melt viscosity of the compatibilizer was found with zinc addition and adding compatibilizer increased the viscosity of the blends. However, the addition of zinc to the compatibilizer did not change the viscosity in the PA-6-rich blends and actually led to a decrease in viscosity in the HDPE-rich blends.     

Effect of a hybrid compatibilizer on the mechanical properties and interfacial tension of a ternary blend with polypropylene,poly(lactic acid), and a toughening modifier

This study examined the effect of three compatibilizers, namely, a hybrid compatibilizer composed of polypropylene‐maleic anhydride (PP‐g‐MAH) and polyethylene‐glycidyl methacrylate (PE‐g‐GMA), a single compatibilizer composed of PP‐g‐MAH, and a single compatibilizer composed of PE‐g‐GMA, on the mechanical, morphological, and rheological properties of a ternary blend of polypropylene (PP), poly(lactic acid; PLA), and a toughening modifier. The results of tensile strength, flexural strength, and impact strength tests for the ternary blends before and after hydrolysis, revealed that the ternary blend with a hybrid compatibilizer content of 3 phr exhibited better material properties than the blend containing a single compatibilizer. In the weighted relaxation spectra of the ternary blend using the Palierne emulsion model, the ternary blend containing the hybrid compatibilizer, exhibited only one relaxation spectrum peak at ∼ 0.16 s. This result suggests that the ternary blend with the hybrid compatibilizer exhibits uncharacteristic morphological properties, that is, a single‐phase microstructure. The above results suggest that the hybrid mixture is an effective compatibilizer for the ternary blend of PP, PLA, and a toughening modifier. POLYM. COMPOS., 2012. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers