An interesting phase transition in polyamide 6/nitrile rubber blend induced by temperature and pressure and its effect on tribological performance.

The preparation of high‐performance rubber‐plastic blending elastomers has always been a research hotspot in the field of petroleum equipment. The two‐phase separation structure of the blend determines the macroscopic properties of the materials. It is of great significance to deeply explore the influence of processing technology on the two‐phase separation structure. In this paper, polyamide 6 (PA6)/nitrile rubber blends were prepared via the melt–compounding method. To meet the requirements of oil production and oil transport equipment, we investigated systematically the mechanical properties of the specimens exposed to different environments. The oil resistance and high‐temperature resistance of the blends were enhanced considerably with the addition of PA6. The temperature and pressure fields induced a novel transition from particle into fibrous phase based on Ostwald's ripening. However, this brand new transformation showed no benefits to the improvement of the frictional performance. Meanwhile, the relationship between aggregate structure and mechanical performance was demonstrated from the aspects of crystallization behavior and phase morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]