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Polypropylene composites. II: Structure‐property relationships in two‐ and three‐component polypropylene composites
Author(s) -
Chiang WenYen,
Yang WenDer,
Pukánszky Béla
Publication year - 1992
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.760321002
Subject(s) - materials science , composite material , polypropylene , elastomer , miscibility , wetting , thermoplastic elastomer , filler (materials) , copolymer , polymer
Two‐ and three‐component polypropylene (PP) blends and composites were prepared to study their structure/property relationships. Butadiene‐styrene (BDS) copolymers of low compatibility formed large particles of poor adhesion in PP resulting in inferior mechanical properties. Better miscibility of ethylene‐propylene‐diene (EPDM) elastomer results in more finely dispersed particles and the experimental results indicate a transition to an interpenetrating network (IPN)– like structure with increasing elastomer content. Effective impact modification can be achieved only with EPDM elastomers of sufficient miscibility. Mutual wettability and adhesion of the components determine the structure and properties in PP/elastomer/filler systems. Modification of PP by acrylic acid grafting promotes PP/filler adhesion which, in turn, results in the separate dispersion of the components. In an unmodified PP matrix, a significant amount of the filler is encapsulated by the elastomer. At low filler content, better low temperature impact strength is achieved in the case of separately dispersed components, while encapsulation is more advantageous at high filling grades.