Synthesis of isotactic polypropylene-block-polystyrene block copolymers as compatibilizers for isotactic polypropylene/polyphenylene oxide blends

Lidia Jasinska-Walc, Miloud Bouyahyi, Piotr Lorenc, Alexander Leijen Heeneman, Rob Duchateau, Artur Rozanski, Katrien Bernaerts*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) and isotactic polypropylene (iPP) are highly incompatible and consequently their uncompatibilized blends are quite brittle regardless of the molecular weights and ductility of the individual components. Isotactic polypropylene-polystyrene block copolymers, to be applied as compatibilizers for a broad range of PPO/iPP blend compositions, were prepared by mechanism transformation from coordination polymerization (iPP) to Activators Regenerated by Electron Transfer (ARGET) Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization of styrene. The effect of the block copolymer composition and loading on the mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of the blends was studied. The addition of compatibilizer resulted in significant decreased domain size of the dispersed phase and improved mechanical properties. An unexpected phenomenon was observed for some compatibilized iPP-rich blends with only 20% PPO, which were characterized by an even higher impact resistance than that of pure PPO. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)121-132
Number of pages12
JournalPolymer
Volume147
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 Jul 2018

Keywords

  • PPO/iPP polymer blends
  • Compatibilization
  • Isotactic polypropylene-block-polystyrene block copolymers
  • TRANSFER RADICAL POLYMERIZATION
  • TOUGHENING CONCEPT
  • ELECTRON-TRANSFER
  • POLYETHYLENE
  • GRAFT

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