Reaction Characteristics of Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene (ABS) Resin and Glycidyl Methacrylate (GMA) During Melt Mixing Process

The reactive modification of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) was conducted in a melt mixing process. The reaction characteristics of GMA with ABS were investigated for various processing conditions and compositions of the materials in the presence of dicumyl peroxide as an initiator of the radical reaction. The graft ratio of GMA increased as the concentration of GMA increased and showed the maximum value in the given range of mixing time. The influence of the RPM of the mixer on the graft rate was not significant, and the graft ratio decreased as the processing temperature increased. The complex viscosity and storage modulus of the modified ABS increased significantly when the graft ratio was highest. GMA-grafted ABS (ABS-g-GMA) was blended with poly(lactic acid) (PLA) to assess the enhancement of the compatibility in the blend. Compared to the blend of ABS/PLA, the ABS-g-GMA/PLA blend showed a remarkable reduction in the size of the domain with the increase of complex viscosity.

Automated summary

This study investigated the reactive modification of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) in a melt mixing process. The graft ratio of GMA in ABS increased with increasing GMA concentration and reached a maximum value within a certain range of mixing time. The effect of mixer RPM on graft rate was insignificant, while the graft ratio decreased with increasing processing temperature. Furthermore, blending GMA-grafted ABS with poly(lactic acid) (PLA) resulted in a remarkable reduction in domain size as the complex viscosity increased.