Abstract
Polymer films based on polyethylene (PE) and ionomer ethylene/methacrylic acid (EMAA) copolymer blend were prepared by film blowing, whose surface properties were tuned by varying processing parameters, i.e., take up ratio (TUR). Blends of PE/EMAA copolymer were firstly prepared by the melt-mixing method, before being further blown to films. The wettability of the film was investigated by measuring the contact angle/water-film encounter time, and optical properties, i.e., the haze and transmittance. The wettability was found to be enhanced with the increase of TUR. So too was the haze, while the transmittance was found to be almost independent of TUR. The XPS and AFM results directly show the increasing polar functional groups (–COO−) on the surface and roughness with increasing TUR. Further analysis of the 2D SAXS and WAXS unveiled the origin of the invariant transmittance, which resulted from the minor change of the crystallinity and the monotonic increase of the haze, with TUR resulting from the evolution of crystal orientation. In addition to other post-modification methods, the current study provides an alternative route to prepare large-scale PE films as the template for the advanced potential applications, i.e., covering in the layer of roof, the privacy of protective windows, and multitudes of packaging.
Highlights
Polyethylene (PE) film is one of the most widely used polymeric materials, which is attributed to its numerous advantages, i.e., abundant supply, good chemical resistance, low cost, and versatility [1,2,3,4].its lack of reactivity, dyeability, poor wettability, and matting limit its potential applications to some extent
It could be observed that the contact area of the droplet increased with the increase of both take-up ratio (TUR) and time, which reflects increasing of surface wettability
Within the detection window ( 90◦, while those obtained under TUR > 20 showed θ < 90◦
Summary
Polyethylene (PE) film is one of the most widely used polymeric materials, which is attributed to its numerous advantages, i.e., abundant supply, good chemical resistance, low cost, and versatility [1,2,3,4]. Modification of the PE surface is necessary to enhance the interaction between PE and other metal foil layers [11,12,13] Besides packaging, another major usage of PE film is in the field of agriculture as greenhouse covers, which provide a favorable environment to increase plant yield [16]. In peculiar cases, like in the areas where there is perennial sunshine with no cloud, the direct incident of natural light (high transmittance) may harm crops and burn their leaves Under this condition, films with high haze are required. The application of PE films as greenhouse covers require tuning the optical properties depending on local conditions. By blending and altering the processing parameters, films with desirable surface properties are obtained, whichand is expected a new methodology forwith the manufacturing of increasing.
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