Structure–properties relationship in toughening of poly(butylene terephthalate) with core–shell modifier

Abstract

The performance of acrylonitrile-butadienestyrene (ABS) core-shell modifier with different grafting degree, acrylonitrile (AN) content, and core-shell ratio in toughening of poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) matrix was investigated. Results show PBT/ABS blends fracture in ductile mode when the grafting degree is high, and with the decrease of grafting degree PBT/ABS blends fracture in a brittle way. The surface of rubber particles cannot be covered perfectly for ABS with low grafting degree and agglomeration will take place; on the other hand, the entanglement density between SAN and PBT matrix decreases because of the low grafting degree, inducing poor interfacial adhesion. The compatibility between PBT and ABS results from the strong interaction between PBT and SAN copolymer and the interaction is influenced by AN content. Results show ABS cannot disperse in PBT matrix uniformly when AN content is zero and PBT/ABS fractures in a brittle way. With the addition of AN in ABS, PBT/ABS blends fracture in ductile mode. The coreshell ratio of ABS copolymers has important effect on PBT/ ABS blends. When the core-shell ratio is higher than 60/40 or lower than 50/50, agglomeration or cocontinuous structure occurs and PBT/ABS blends display lower impact strength.

Characterization of rubber phase in acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene polymers

“…5 Sun et al characterized various ABS coreshell modifiers and studied the effect of grafting degrees on dispersion mechanisms of rubber particles and morphology of ABS/poly(butylene terephthalate) blends using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). 6 Šlouf et al studied the morphological behavior of rubber particles in polypropylene/ABS blends. They proposed a new microscopic and image analysis technique that converted qualitative information from SEM to semi-quantitative structure descriptors.…”

The effect of recycling number on the mechanical, chemical, thermal, and rheological properties of PBT/PC/ABS ternary blends: With and without glass‐fiber

“…However, not only virgin form of PBT/PC/ABS and glass‐fiber (GF) reinforced PBT/PC/ABS ternary blends but also recycling of PBT/PC/ABS and GF reinforced PBT/PC/ABS ternary blends were not investigated in the literature. But, the mechanical properties of binary blends using PBT, PC, and ABS such as PBT/PC , PBT/ABS , and PC/ABS blends were investigated.…”

Toughness of ABS/PBT blends: The relationship between composition, morphology, and fracture behavior

“…Recently, the studies devoted to the morphology of immiscible blends have drawn lots of attentions, such as morphology control of immiscible polymer phase or effective conductive network built‐up via co‐continuous structure . The mechanical properties and brittle‐ductile transition related to the morphology of PBT/ABS or PBT/SAN have also been reported . Costa et al .…”

“…They found that different morphologies had different effects on mechanical properties of SAN/PBT blends. Nanoblends of SAN/PBT with a dispersed morphology exhibited brittle behavior whereas a co‐continuous structure showed a higher deformation ability . Although lots of work have addressed PBT/ABS or SAN/PBT blends, few people has related the fracture behavior, morphology to the composition of ABS/PBT blends.…”