Some studies on fibrillation of drawn tapes made from high-density polyethylene blended with small amounts of linear low-density polyethylene

Abstract

<span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:" times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";="" color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-in;mso-fareast-language:en-in;mso-bidi-language:="" hi"="" lang="EN-IN">Tapes of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and HDPE blends having 3-5% by weight linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) were prepared by first extruding them from the melt on an extruder and then drawing the extruded tapes on a hot plate. The tensile properties of the tapes were studied on an Instron tensile tester while the fibrillation characteristics were investigated with the help of Good brand twist fibrillator. The tapes were etched in chlorosulphonic acid and the etched tapes were examined on scanning electron microscope. A significant improvement in resistance to fibrillation was observed for the tape prepared from blend having 5% by weight of LLDPE. The improvement in resistance to fibrillation has been attributed to the observed increase in the branching of the fibrils in the drawn tapes which is apparently due to the incorporation of the second component.</span>