Compatibilization and properties of SAN/EPDM blends with the addition of coagents

SAN and EPDM are not miscible. In this work, the dry blending of SAN and EPDM using Centrex (acrylonitrile/EPDM/styrene graft copolymer) and EPMMA (EPDM‐g‐Mah) as coagents was studied. Centrex content was used at 6–20 wt %. EPMMA content in the mixture was 20 wt %. The effects of coagent type and content on the mechanical properties and morphology were investigated. SEM micrographs of SAN/EPDM/Centrex and SAN/EPDM/EPMMA blends showed that both Centrex and EPMMA have an effective role in forming a finer morphology. For the ternary blends, the addition of coagent resulted in a significant reduction in the size of the dispersed phase. The mechanical properties of SAN/EPDM/coagent blends were improved significantly in comparison to the simple SAN/EPDM blends. SAN/EPDM/Centrex blends showed higher stress‐at‐break and SAN/EPDM/EPMMA blends showed higher impact strength. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008