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Styrene maleic anhydride and styrene glycidyl methacrylate copolymers as in situ reactive compatibilizers of polystyrene/nylon 6,6 blends
Author(s) -
Chang FengChih,
Hwu YihChyun
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
polymer engineering and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.503
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1548-2634
pISSN - 0032-3888
DOI - 10.1002/pen.760312102
Subject(s) - materials science , glycidyl methacrylate , copolymer , maleic anhydride , nylon 6 , styrene , polystyrene , composite material , toughness , sma* , phase (matter) , polymer chemistry , methyl methacrylate , polymer , organic chemistry , chemistry , mathematics , combinatorics
The reactive type copolymers styrene maleic, anhydride (SMA) and styrene glycidyl methacrylate (SG) are used as in situ compatibilizers in polyblends of polystyrene (PS) and nylon 6, 6 (N66). Both copolymers can react with N66 to form copolymers as effective compatibilizers to reduce interfacial tension and increase phase adhesion. However, the toughness of the compatibilized blends is significantly lower than of the corresponding noncompatibilized blends. Only a small fraction of SMA is actually reacted in a typical melt blending, and SG copolymer seems to be more reactive than SMA. The unreacted copolymers are expected to be distributed mostly in the PS phase because of their structural similarity. The reacted copolymers are not exclusively distributed along the interface; some may distribute in both matrices. SMA is known as a very brittle polymer, and the way it is distributed can greatly influence the toughness of the resulting blends. PS is also very brittle relative to N66, and moreover a high amount of SMA in the N66 phase is detrimental since N66 is responsible for the toughness of PS/N66 blends. The better compatibilized blends have the tendency to bring more SMA and reacted SMA into the N66 phase. The relative detrimental effect on the inherent toughness of N66 is much more severe than in case of PS, if they contain the same amount of SMA. This study demonstrates that polyblends with good compatibilizers do not guarantee toughness improvement. The way the compatibilizers affect the inherent properties of the matrix needs also to be taken into consideration.