Effect of rubber interparticle distance distribution on toughening behavior of thermoplastic polyolefin elastomer toughened polypropylene

Abstract

In this study, a blend of polypropylene (PP) and two types of thermoplastic polyolefin elastomers (TPO) were prepared by melt mixing. The TPOs were either ethylene‐ or propylene‐based copolymer. The mechanical response and morphology of the blends were investigated using tensile and impact tests and scanning electron microscopy technique. There was significant increase in the impact strength of the TPO‐modified PP, which was an outcome of fine dispersion of TPO inclusions. In particular, the blends containing PP‐based TPO exhibited dramatic enhancement in toughness energy as featured by a plastic deformation in tensile test. The brittle‐tough transition had several deviations from theoretical models, in which generally the interparticle distance criterion was realized as a single parameter, only controlled the transition of brittle to tough behavior. Moreover, the brittle‐tough transition in tensile and impact mode tests was not coincident in the blend with a broad distribution of interparticle distance. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 44068.

Compatibilization of poly(lactic acid)/high impact polystyrene interface using copolymer poly(stylene‐ran‐methyl acrylate)

“…However, PLA is often limited to low mechanical loading applications due to its brittleness. An improvement of the toughness of such brittle polymers can generally be achieved by blending with a ductile secondary phase polymer . There are a number of literatures reporting the studies of blending PLA with ductile polymers, such as polyethylene, poly(ethylene octane), and poly(ɛ‐caprolactone) .…”

Cell structure-impact property relationship of polypropylene/thermoplastic elastomer blend foams

“…It was observed that samples with the azodicarbonamide foaming agent and propylenebased POE had smaller POE particles along with a more uniform particle distribution. According to previous studies on the blends of these compounds, the particle size for the POE of the propylene-base was smaller in size due to its compatibility with the PP matrix compared with the ethylene-based POE [37]. But in the foam mode, these sizes are more close to each other and for samples with a 20% of POE concentration was obtained about 200 nm.…”

“…The blending properties of these elastomers with polypropylene have been previously reported in various studies regarding their high capability to increase impact strength [34][35][36]. It has been reported that the morphology of the propagation of rubber particles inside the polypropylene matrix, as well as the rubber particle size, play the most important role in increasing the impact strength of the compound, to such extent that POEs with proper distribution can enhance the impact strength of the compound by up to 13 times [37]. Various studies have also been conducted on the foamability and morphology of polypropylene/thermoplastic elastomeric foam blends.…”

“…By increasing POE concentration, the cell density for PT-A sample has increased incrementally from 6.35·10 7 to 10.52·10 7 cells/cm 3 . PV-A samples have higher cell density than PT-A samples due to their propylene-based POE, and the fine-grain structure compatible with the polypropylene matrix in the foam section [37]. By increasing the concentration of propylene-based POE from 10 to 30%, cell density increased from 8.45·10 7 to 2.6·10 8 cells/cm 3 , and owing to the small change in cell diameter, this significant increase is probably due to the nucleation effect of POE particles in the foam.…”

Room temperature and low temperature toughness improvement in SAN/ASA blends by blending with CPE, HNBR, and BR

“…Toughness is a key parameter to the performance of polymers in various engineering applications . Generally, temperature is a very important external factor for the impact toughness of polymer materials.…”