The automotive industry has a significant need for composites made of high impact strength polymer blends. Melt-mixing was used in this work to reinforce hollow glass microspheres (HGMs) with 50:50 polypropylene/ polyamide 6 (PP/PA6) blends. Using FTIR spectroscopy, it is observed that the 50PP50PA6 blend is compatibilized with maleated PP, producing a reactively compatible blend. The compatibilization process has refined the morphology of the 50PP50PA6 blend. Additionally, the incorporation of HGMs into the 50PP50PA6 blend produced a finer blend morphology, which helped to enhance the crystallinity of the polymer phase and mechanical properties to the maximum. The tensile modulus and impact strength of a 50PP50PA6 blend with maleated PP that contains 3 wt.% HGMs are better than those of a neat blend by 15.6% and 90.1%, respectively. Fractography was used to identify the fracture mechanism which reveals the retention of droplets over the surface of impact specimens of HGMs-filled compatibilized PP/PA6 blend. When 50PP50PA6 blend with and without maleated PP is filled with HGMs, rheological characterization shows that the blend viscosity has decreased, indicating improved processability. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) revealed that the incorporation of HGMs into the 50PP50PA6 blend enhances the storage modulus.
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