Toughening of polypropylene with styrene/ethylene- Butylene/Styrene tri-block copolymer: Effects of mixing condition and elastomer content

The effect of processing conditions and elastomer content on the toughening of Polypropylene (PP) by melt blending with styrene/ethylene-butylene/styrene tri-block copolymer (SEBS) in a twin-screw extruder has been investigated. The parameters analyzed were: temperature profile, screw speed, and feed rate of the blend components. Their effect was evaluated through the mechanical properties (tensile strength and Izod impact resistance at room temperature) as well as the morphology of the dispersed phase by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the impact resistance increases with increasing rotor speed and feed rate and decreases when the temperature profile is increased. The parameter with the greatest effect on the mechanical properties was the variation in rotor speed. Despite the fact that impact resistance as high as 25 times that of neat PP has been achieved with blends containing 20 wt % SEBS, no significant modification in phase morphology has been observed. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.