Preparation and mechanical properties of poly(vinyl chloride)/bamboo flour composites with a novel block copolymer as a coupling agent

To improve the interfacial adhesion between poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and bamboo flour in PVC/bamboo flour composites, a novel coupling agent, poly(styrene‐ co ‐maleic anhydride)‐ block ‐poly(styrene‐ co ‐acrylonitrile) {P[(SMA)‐ b ‐(SAN)]}, was synthesized through living free‐radical polymerization in a one‐pot reaction. P[(SMA)‐ b ‐(SAN)] was synthesized by a nitroxide‐mediated polymerization technique in the presence of 2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidin‐l‐oxyl with azobisisobutyronitrile. The conversion of maleic anhydride (>99%) and styrene (>65%) was relatively high and yielded P[(SMA)‐ b ‐(SAN)] with a narrow molecular weight distribution (weight‐average molecular weight/number‐average molecular weight <1.38). PVC was blended with bamboo flours in the presence of the synthesized coupling agent with a two‐roll mill. P[(SMA)‐ b ‐(SAN)] was added to the PVC matrix at a concentration of 55 or 20 wt %. As the content of P[(SMA)‐ b ‐(SAN)] in the wood–polymer composite increased, improved morphological and mechanical behaviors were observed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008