Polyethylene Co-Extruded Blown Film: Layer Arrangement for Optimum Optics and Stiffness, 2006 PLACE Conference

Please Note: This document will be available in PDF format in the "My Electronic Documents" link on the home page once your order has been completed. Please make sure you have the latest version of Acrobat Reader. Click on the Acrobat Reader icon to check for the latest version, it’s FREE. To print a hardcopy of a PDF file correctly you must have a postscript printer. If you are not sure if your printer is a postscript printer please refer to your owner’s manual.

The blown film coextrusion process provides the opportunity to create film structures with optical and physical properties that typically could not be achieved in monolayer structures alone. A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of layer arrangements on the optical and tensile properties of three- layer polyethylene film structures. Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were utilized in an attempt to evaluate the hypotheses generated in a previous study (1) and to establish a better understanding of the mechanism that contributed to the combination of good optical and stiffness properties. Good correlation between surface roughness and surface haze was observed and the mechanism of the improvement on the optical properties was confirmed. An optimal layer arrangement was found and applied in the co-extruded blown films with LLDPE, LDPE and HDPE blends. A recommendation was presented on materials selection and structure design that would give optimum optics and stiffness for the multilayer co-extruded films.