Polystyrene‐poly(ethylene‐butylene)‐polystyrene/asphaltene sands composite elastomer with improved mechanical properties

Abstract

Endowing polymers with improved mechanical properties by functional fillers is a continuously pursued topic. Although composites with different fillerimproved properties have been reported, the inevitably raised costs often restrict the practical uses of these products. Herein, we report the utilization of the waste asphaltene sands (AS) produced from the coal-oil co-processing process as a functional filler to toughen the thermoplastic elastomers represented by SEBS. The FT-IR, XRD and elemental analysis showed that AS is a mixture consisting of organic compounds and inorganic minerals from the coal. After filling AS into SEBS, the inorganic minerals act as hard cores to strengthen the matrix while the surrounding aromatic and alkane compounds ensure a good compatibility of AS with SEBS. Composites with altered contents and sizes of AS particles were prepared by solvent processing and subsequent hot pressing.The optical microscopy images show a good dispersion of the AS particles in the SEBS substrate. As a result, the tensile strength of the composites are notably enhanced from 6.88 to 17.23 MPa after loading 20 wt% AS. Thus, the AS waste is very promising as the new and successful filler in developing polymers with improved mechanical properties and simultaneously reduced production cost.

Microstructure development and mechanical performance of MWCNTs/GNPs filled SEBS with different block content

“…A unique microstructural characteristic of these materials makes them suitable for applications as diverse as electronic circuits, sensors, mechanical actuators, tissue engineering, wire insulation, electromagnetic shielding devices, and many others. 3,[6][7][8][9][10][11] The superior intrinsic properties and nano-sized effects of nanoparticles have made them an attractive platform for the fabrication of block copolymers with a wide variety of applications. [12][13][14] Among them, carbonbased nanoparticles, such as multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs), have proved to be capable of improving various properties in SEBS block copolymers due to the formation of preferential л-л interactions between delocalized electrons in the phenyl group of PS blocks and electron-rich carbon nanoparticles.…”

“…Polystyrene‐poly (ethylene‐butylene)‐polystyrene (SEBS) is one of the most widely used triblock copolymers, containing two hard polystyrene (PS) blocks on either end and one rubbery polyethylene butylene (PEB) block in the middle. A unique microstructural characteristic of these materials makes them suitable for applications as diverse as electronic circuits, sensors, mechanical actuators, tissue engineering, wire insulation, electromagnetic shielding devices, and many others 3,6–11 …”