Elastomers impact resistance with

PC with siloxane and elastomer Impact resistance De Boer and Heuschen 1988... 

Thermal Oxidative Stability. ABS undergoes autoxidation and the kinetic features of the oxygen consumption reaction are consistent with an autocatalytic free-radical chain mechanism. Comparisons of the rate of oxidation of ABS with that of polybutadiene and styrene—acrylonitrile copolymer indicate that the polybutadiene component is significantly more sensitive to oxidation than the thermoplastic component (31—33). Oxidation of polybutadiene under these conditions results in embrittlement of the mbber because of cross-linking such embrittlement of the elastomer in ABS results in the loss of impact resistance. Studies have also indicated that oxidation causes detachment of the grafted styrene—acrylonitrile copolymer from the elastomer which contributes to impact deterioration (34). 

Polypropylene polymers are typically modified with ethylene to obtain desirable properties for specific applications. Specifically, ethylene—propylene mbbers are introduced as a discrete phase in heterophasic copolymers to improve toughness and low temperature impact resistance (see Elastomers, ETHYLENE-PROPYLENE rubber). This is done by sequential polymerisation of homopolymer polypropylene and ethylene—propylene mbber in a multistage reactor process or by the extmsion compounding of ethylene—propylene mbber with a homopolymer. Addition of high density polyethylene, by polymerisation or compounding, is sometimes used to reduce stress whitening. In all cases, a superior balance of properties is obtained when the sise of the discrete mbber phase is approximately one micrometer. Examples of these polymers and their properties are shown in Table 2. Mineral fillers, such as talc or calcium carbonate, can be added to polypropylene to increase stiffness and high temperature properties, as shown in Table 3. 

Impact polystyrene (IPS) is one of a class of materials that contains mbber grafted with polystyrene. This composition is usually produced by polymerizing styrene (by mass or solution free-radical polymerization) in the presence of a small amount (ca 5%) of dissolved elastomer. Some of the important producers of impact-resistant polystyrenes are BASE (Polystyrol), Dow (Styron), and Monsanto (Lustrex). The 1988 U.S. production of impact polystyrene was more than 1 million t (92). 

The thermoplastic polyamide elastomers may be considered as premium grade materials available in a wide range of hardness values with, in some instances, very good heat resistance. Particular properties of interest are the flexibility and impact resistance at low temperatures and the good dynamic properties and related resilience, hysteresis and alternating flexural properties. 

Heterogeneous compatible blends of preformed elastomers and brittle plastics are also an important route for the development of blends of enhanced performance with respect to crack or impact resistance. Polycarbonate blends with preformed rubber particles of different sizes have been used to provide an insight into the impact properties and the fracture modes of these toughened materials. Izod impact strength of the blends having 5-7.5 wt% of rubber particles exhibits best overall product performance over a wide range temperature (RT to -40°C) [151-154]. 

Thermoplastic polymers, such as poly(styrene) may be filled with soft elastomeric particles in order to improve their impact resistance. The elastomer of choice is usually butadiene-styrene, and the presence of common chemical groups in the matrix and the filler leads to improved adhesion between them. In a typical filled system, the presence of elastomeric particles at a level of 50% by volume improves the impact strength of a brittle glassy polymer by a factor of between 5 and 10. 

Elastomers are often blended with plastics either to improve the impact resistance or to develop new materials having both plastic and elastic behavior. When the elastomer in the blend is dynamically vulcanized, the product is called a thermoplastics vulcanizate (TPV). Blends with unvulcanized mbber phase are usually known as thermoplastic elastomers. TPVs are discussed in another section of this book. This section will deal with recent developments in rubber-plastic blends. 

The impact resistance of the SIN plastics increased with elastomer content and polyester content of the elastomer phase. 

PVC is flexibilized by addition of plasticizers as already noted. It is also made more flexible through blending with elastomers that act as impact modifiers. These blends are used when impact resistance is essential. 

Vinylite is the most widely used vinyl chloride copolymer. This copolymer is not as strong nor as resistant to corrosives as rigid PVC but is more readily processed. PVC is flexibilized by blending it with elastomers (impact modifiers). These ductile blends of PVC and impact modifiers are more widely used when impact resistance is essential. 

Generally, the impact resistance of a polymeric material can be improved by blending with elastomers or other resilient polymers. However, owing to the poor miscibility often occurring among blend constituents, a suitable compati-bilizer must be added to the formulation. 

The addition of an elastomer (typically a high butadiene content SBS) to SBC will serve to enhance further the elastomeric properties of the SBC. One key feature mentioned previously was improvement in hinge life properties. SBS copolymers can also be added to thermoformed sheet in blends of SBC and crystal polystyrene. The SBS does cause some loss of clarity, but gives more impact resistance to the sheet. Selection of the proper SBS can result in minimal loss of clarity, typically at 3-10% loadings. Styrene-isoprene copolymers (SIS) have also been tested with SBC and can give similar results in impact property improvement. 

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