| Abstract: | Recent work has shown that nylon 6/acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) blends can be made tough by the addition of some polymer additives that are chemically reactive with nylon 6 and physically compatible with the styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer (SAN) phase of ABS. Imidized acrylic polymers (IA) represent a successful example of such additives that improve the dispersion of ABS in the nylon 6 matrix and render the blends tough. This article examines the possibility of toughening nylon 6 with ethylene/propylene/diene elastomer grafted with SAN copolymer (EPDM-g-SAN). This EPDM-g-SAN consists of 50% rubber and 50% SAN by weight. However, it was found that the same IA that works well to disperse ABS materials of similar rubber content is not as effective for EPDM-g-SAN, primarily because the EPDM forms the continuous phase, not SAN, and, thus, interfaces with nylon 6 during melt blending. Maleated elastomers like maleic anhydride grafted ethylene–propylene copolymer (EPR-g-MA) and styrene–(ethylene-co-butylene)–styrene triblock copolymer (SEBS-g-MA) were more effective for dispersing EPDM-g-SAN in the nylon 6 matrix than IA. Various mechanisms that improve the dispersion are discussed. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |
