Jingwu Wang

Toughened polypropylene with balanced rigidity. III. Compositions and mechanical properties

Toughened polypropylene with balanced rigidity (TRPP) was prepared by thermal mechanical blending of PP resin with a toughening master batch (TMB) in a twin screw extruder. The dependence of the mechanical properties of TRPPs on the ratio of ethylene-propylene to styrene-butadiene elastomers, the total elastomer content in the TRPP, and the amount of elastomers in the TMB were investigated. The TRPP with a total elastomer content of 14 wt %, which was made from a TMB with 32 wt % elastomer and a 80/20 (w/w) ratio of ethylene-propylene to styrene-butadiene elastomers, was found to have excellent balanced mechanical properties. The notched Izod impact strength at 23°C was 762 J/m (23 times that of PP), the flexural modulus was 1078 MPa (92% of that of PP), and the tensile strength at yield was 34.8 MPa (88% of that of PP). Moreover, its mechanical properties were much better than the simply blended sample with the same composition, demonstrating that dynamic vulcanization and polymer-bridge conjunction are excellent techniques to produce a high-impact, high-modulus PP. A sharp brittle–ductile transition was found at 14 wt % total elastomer content, which was assumed to be a percolation phenomenon.

Toughened polypropylene with balanced rigidity. IV. Morphology, crystallization behavior, and thermal properties

The morphology of toughened polypropylene with balanced rigidity (TRPP) was characterized by using transmission electron microscopy and polarizing light microscopy. The crystallization behavior and thermal properties were investigated by differential thermal analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. The PP component in the polymer blend was realized as the continuous phase and the elastomer component as the dispersed phase with a cellular structure (salami structure) containing some PP. The particles of the dispersed phase were small and regular. The cellular structure of the TRPPs resulted from the introduction of toughening master batches and was similar to the morphology of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene and high-impact polystyrene synthesized by graft copolymerization. By gradually cooling from the melt, crystallization of TRPPs was nucleated heterogeneously and the crystallization temperature was slightly higher than that of PP whereas the crystallite size was remarkably reduced. For the samples with different compositions, the number, shape, and size of the cellular dispersed particles and the crystallite size were different. Considering the toughening theories and our experimental data, it was concluded that the samples with more regular and small cellular dispersed particles generally had better mechanical properties and the remarkably reduced crystallite size of PP was favorable for toughness improvement. The melting point, thermal oxidation temperature, and thermal oxidation onset temperature of the TRPPs were all a little lower than those of PP and the processability remained good.

Toughened polypropylene with balanced rigidity (II): morphology, melt flow rate and melting point of toughening master batch

The morphology of the toughening master batches (TMBs) for polypropylene (PP) was characterized by means of transmission electron microscopy and polarizing microscopy, and the melt flow rate and melting point were investigated as well. Results indicated that the TMBs prepared by using dynamic vulcanization and polymer–bridge conjunction techniques took on a very special morphology. The morphology of the TMBs was formed through microphase separation with PP component as the continuous phase, shaping very small crystallites and with elastomer component at the dispersed phase having a cellular structure containing some PP. Such a morphological characteristic is essentially different from the packaged morphology formed by flow encapsulation during the process of thermal mechanical blending. The data of melt flow rate showed that the TMBs had good processing properties adequate for being processed into polypropylene composites with both excellent toughness and balanced rigidity. The melting temperature of the TMBs determined by differential thermal analysis is lower than that PP, providing additional evidence of the chemical bonding among some elastomers and PP. Copyright

A rheological method for the determination of “super toughness point” of polymer blends: A blend system of nylon1212 with maleated poly(ethylene-octene)

The rheological behavior of a reactive blend system of nylon1212 with maleic anhydride grafted poly(ethylene-octene) was studied in correlating with the key mechanical parameters. Results illustrated that the “gel points” acquired from the dynamic rheological data and the “super-toughness points” of the blends have a corresponding relationship. Thus, just by simple composition designs and a small amount of samples, the super-toughness point could be conveniently determined by the dynamic rheological measurements. Furthermore, special “double network” morphology at the gel point was directly observed for the first time and the new mechanism of super-toughness has also been discussed.