Polystyrene-Graft-Acrylic Acid as Compatibilizer of Polystyrene/Nylon 6,6 Blends

Abstract

Preliminary investigations to study the feasibility of using polystyrene grafted with acrylic acid to blend polystyrene (PS) and nylon 6,6 (N66) have been done. The graft copolymer (PS-g-AA) was synthesized by reacting polystyrene with acrylic acid in the presence of a free radical initiator using the solid phase graft copolymerization technique. Binary blends of N66/PS and N66/PS-g-AA were synthesized by melt mixing. The formation of a (PS-g-AA)-co-N66 copolymer during the blend preparation has been desired. The blend morphologies were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Significant reductions in the domain sizes of the dispersed minor phase were observed when PS-g-AA instead of PS was incorporated into the blend. The tensile properties of the blends were investigated. The belnds containing PS-g-AA were found to be stiffer (higher modulus) and stronger (higher tensile strength) as compared to the blends containing PS. These results are due to the better miscibility and adhesion between nylon 6,6 and the graft copolymer. The results of the rheological measurement of these blends further supports the above result and also indicates an increase in the molecular weight distribution (MWD) of the blend when polystyrene was replaced by the graft copolymer. This increase in the MWD of the compatibilized blend can be attributed to above assumed copolymer formation between the graft copolymer and nylon 6,6 due to the reaction between the carbonyl group of the acrylic acid and the amide and the terminal amine groups of nylon 6,6.

Department(s)

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering

Keywords and Phrases

Acrylic Acid; Nylon 6; 6 Blends; Polystyrene

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0032-3888

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 1999 John Wiley & Sons, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Nov 1999

Link to Full Text

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