Low density polyethylene (LDPE) blends with different additives were exposed to various doses of electron beam irradiation. The additives used were styrene‐ethylene‐butylene‐styrene‐block copolymers (SEBS), styrene‐ethylene‐butylene‐styrene‐block copolymer grafted with maleic anhydride (SEBS‐g‐MA) and mineral compounds. The structure–property behavior of electron beam irradiated blends was characterized in terms of mechanical, thermal, and electrical resistivity properties. The results indicated that the unirradiated LDPE blends with the different compositions showed improved mechanical properties, thermal and volume resistivity properties than pure LDPE. However, the improvement in properties of unirradiated blends by using SEBS‐g‐MA was higher than using SEBS copolymer. Further improvement in the mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of the LDPE blends was achieved after electron beam irradiation. The limited oxygen index (LOI) data revealed that the LDPE/SEBS‐g‐MA/ATH blend was changed from combustible to self‐extinguishing material after electron beam irradiation to a dose of 100 kGy. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012

The effect of electron beam irradiation on the thermal and mechanical properties of poly(vinyl chloride)/polystyrene (PVC/PS) blends and PVC/PS blends containing epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) was studied. The thermogravimetric analysis study showed that the thermal decomposition of the plasticized PVC individual polymer goes through two stages, whereas PS decomposes through one stage. However, the temperature of the maximum rate of reaction (Tmax) of PS is much higher than that for PVC and their blends. Meanwhile, the Tmax was found to increase with increasing PS ratios in the blend. The thermal stability of PVC/PS blends was greatly increased after electron beam irradiation in comparison with unirradiated blends. Moreover, the addition of ENR to PVC/PS increased the thermal stability. On the other hand, the mechanical properties in terms of tensile strength and elongation at break of PVC/PS blends are lower than pure PVC polymer because of the immiscibility. However, the addition of ENR to the PVC/PS (80/20) blend increased the elongation at break from 114 to 321% associated with a small effect on the tensile properties. These behaviors were supported by structure morphology studies observations, which indicate an improvement in the interfacial adhesion between the phases. POLYM. COMPOS., 2008. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers