In What Ways Can Nylon Cable Ties Provide Toughness?

Nylon cable ties, as the name suggests, are straps for binding things. Nylon cable ties are also called: cable ties, cable bands and so on.

Nylon cable ties are divided into: self-locking nylon cable ties, label nylon cable ties, live buckle nylon cable ties, tamper proof (lead seal) nylon cable ties, fixed head nylon cable ties, latch (aircraft head) nylon cable ties, beads hole nylon cable tie, fish bone nylon cable tie, weather-resistant nylon cable tie etc.

Toughening agents used for nylon toughening can be roughly divided into four categories: rubber elastomers, thermoplastic elastomers, rigid organic copolymers, and inorganic rigid fillers. But not all elastomers are suitable for toughening nylon. Nylon is a polar crystalline polymer. Generally speaking, elastomers with polarity are more suitable for nylon. Of course, it is also a feasible way to introduce polar groups into the macromolecular chains of non-polar elastomers through graft copolymerization.

1. Rubber elastomer

Rubber elastomers are ideal toughening agents for polymers. The main reason is that rubber has high toughness and particularly low Tg, which can give plastics excellent resistance to low temperature brittleness. Rubbers used as nylon toughening agents include EPM, EPDM, NBR, 38 feet etc., thermoplastic elastomers include SBS, SEBS, EVA, EAA. And EPDM is the most used. Rubber is used as a toughening agent for nylon and it is best vulcanized before use. The rubber is appropriately cross-linked to change from a linear structure to a network structure to have excellent modification effects.

2. Thermoplastic elastomer

The difference between thermoplastic elastomer and rubber is that it can be used directly without vulcanization and crosslinking. Its elasticity is close to rubber, and the thermoplastic elastomer is a copolymer or graft copolymer. SBS endows SBS with high elasticity due to the presence of butadiene in the macromolecule, and the elasticity of SBS with different butadiene content is also different. SEBS is a hydrogenated product of SBS. The biggest feature of this product is that it has stronger weather resistance than SBS. Thermoplastic elastomer toughened nylon and rubber toughened nylon have certain differences in performance. The former has higher rigidity such as bending strength than the latter.

3. Rigid organic polymer

The research on toughening of rigid organic particles is far less extensive and in-depth than the research on elastomers. There are not many varieties of organic polymers that can toughen nylon, such as liquid crystal polymers. But from the principle of toughening, polymers with lower Tg than nylon have a certain toughening effect on nylon, such as PP, PE, ABS, etc. The toughening effect of such polymers is not as good as elastomers.

4. Rigid inorganic particles

When the particle size of the inorganic filler reaches the nanometer size, it has a certain toughening effect, such as CaCO3, talc, montmorillonite, wollastonite, etc. Rigid particles have a certain toughening effect on nylon, which can improve the rigidity of nylon, but it is not as effective as elastomers. To obtain toughened nylon with good toughness and high rigidity, it is very necessary to use composite toughening agents or toughening and strengthening composite technology.

Improve the toughness of nylon cable tie for post-processing:

1. It can be humidified in the air, but for too long, at least 3-7 days. The humidity in the air in winter is low, and it is difficult for reusable nylon cable ties to absorb enough moisture;

2. Generally it should be boiled or steamed with water, in this case, the material toughness effect can be improved;

3. The color of the color product will change after boiling, and there will be water stains and white spots on the surface of the tie;

4. Use humidified steam to control the circulation system, you can control water stains and white spots with precise control;

5. In addition, you can also start from the raw materials, and choose a suitable toughening agent to toughen the raw materials, or choose a nylon raw material with better toughness.