Mechanical and UV‐shielding properties of in situ synthesized poly(acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene)/zinc oxide nanocomposites

A series of poly(acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene)/ZnO nanocomposites with different ZnO nanoparticles content were synthesized by a mass‐suspension polymerization process. Nanocomposites obtained through this technique presented high impact resistance despite the presence of agglomerates for high ZnO nanoparticles content so that, these samples were subjected to twin‐screw extrusion. The extrusion led to a dramatic morphological change and increased in impact resistance, higher than 100% in most of the cases. On the other hand, the higher the ZnO content, the higher the UV blocking (>95% for 1 and 3% of ZnO) for both materials, before and after extrusion. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013