The effects of the metal pigment, adsorbent, extractant and their feeding methods on the properties of polycarbonate/acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene composites

Abstract

The aim of the present work is to upgrade the functionality and applicability of polycarbonate (PC)/acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) blends by means of a blending technique. Metallic glossy PC/ABS composites with low odour were prepared by adding metallic pigment, adsorbent and extractant into the PC/ABS composite matrix. The effects of the metal pigment, extractant, adsorbent and processing technology on the volatile organic compounds (VOC), condensable substances (FOG) and odour of PC/ABS composites were studied systematically. It was found that upon increasing the content of the metallic pigments, the VOC, FOG and odour of the PC/ABS composites increase rapidly. The adsorbent and extractant can effectively improve the VOC, FOG and odour. When the extractant and adsorbent were used at the same time, the method of adding extractant and adsorbent from the main and the secondary feeding port, respectively, was significantly superior to the method of adding the extractant and adsorbent from the main feeding port together in reducing the VOC, FOG and odour of PC/ABS composites, which displayed a good synergistic effect. When the adsorbent and extractant content are 1.5 and 5.0 parts per hundreds of resin (phr), respectively, the obtained composites have good metallic lustre and environmental friendliness (odour level = 2.0, VOC and FOG: not detected).