Blends of recycled polycarbonate and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene: comparing the effect of reactive compatibilizers on mechanical and morphological properties

Blends of recycled polycarbonate (PC) and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) were prepared and some mechanical and morphological properties were investigated. To compatibilize these blends, ABS-g-(maleic anhydride) (ABS-g-MA) and (ethylene-vinyl acetate)-g-(maleic anhydride) (EVA-g-MA) with similar degree of grafting of 1.5% were used. To compare the effect of the type of compatibilizer on mechanical properties, blends were prepared using 3, 5 and 10 phr of each compatibilizer. A co-rotating twin-screw extruder was used for blending. The results showed that ABS-g-MA had no significant effect on the tensile strength of the blends while EVA-g-MA decreased the tensile strength, the maximum decrease being about 9.6% when using 10 phr of this compatibilizer. The results of notched Charpy impact strength tests showed that EVA-g-MA increased the impact strength of blends more than ABS-g-MA. The maximum value of this increase occurred when using 5 phr of each compatibilizer, it being about 54% for ABS-g-MA and 165% for EVA-g-MA. Scanning electron microscopy micrographs showed that the particle size of the dispersed phase was decreased in the continuous phase of PC by using the compatibilizers. Moreover, a blend without compatibilizer showed brittle behaviour while the blends containing compatibilizer showed ductile behaviour in fracture. (c) 2013 Society of Chemical Industry