Eect
of
reactive
compatibilizers
on
the
mechanical
properties
of
polycarbonate/poly(acrylonitrile-butadiene-
styrene)
blends
S.C.
Tjong*,
Y.Z.
Meng
1
Department
of
Physics
and
Materials
Science,
City
University
of
Hong
Kong,
Tat
Chee
Avenue,
Kowloon,
Hong
Kong
Received
6
July
1998;
received
in
revised
form
9
November
1998;
accepted
15
January
1999
Abstract
Polycarbonate
(PC)/poly(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene)
(ABS)
blends
compatibilized
with
both
maleic
anhydride
(MA)-grafted
polypropylene
and
solid
epoxy
resin
(bisphenol
type-A)
were
injection
molded.
The
eects
of
the
compatibilizer
additions
on
the
morphology
and
mechanical
properties
of
the
PC/ABS
blends
were
investigated.
Tensile
and
Izod
impact
tests
revealed
that
the
addition
of
epoxy
at
2
phr
level
to
the
MA-grafted
PC/ABS
70/30
blend
led
to
a
signi®cant
increase
in
both
tensile
ductility
and
impact
strength.
Consequently,
epoxy
content
of
2
phr
level
was
added
to
all
the
blends
investigated.
Moreover,
tensile
tests
showed
that
the
yield
strength
of
PC
decreased
almost
linearly
with
increasing
ABS
content.
However,
the
tensile
modulus
showed
a
positive
deviation
from
the
rule
of
mixtures.
Both
MA
copolymer
and
epoxy
were
eective
to
compatibilize
the
PC/ABS
blends
containing
ABS
content
up
to
30
wt%.
In
this
case,
the
impact
strength
of
these
compatibilized
blends
was
close
to
that
of
PC.
Above
40
wt%
ABS
content,
the
impact
strength
of
the
compatibilized
PC/ABS
blends
decreased
signi®cantly.
Scanning
electron
microscopic
examination
showed
that
the
ABS
tends
to
disperse
as
large
domains
in
PC
matrix
of
the
uncompatibilized
PC/ABS
blends.
However,
the
size
of
ABS
domains
of
PC/ABS
blends
with
ABS
30
wt%
was
reduced
dramatically
owing
to
the
incorporation
of
both
compatilizers.
#
1999
Elsevier
Science
Ltd.
All
rights
reserved.
1.
Introduction
Bisphenol
A
polycarbonate
(PC)
is
a
widely
used
engineering
thermoplastic
because
it
possesses
several
distinct
properties
such
as
transparency,
dimensional
stability,
¯ame
retardance,
high
heat
distortion
tem-
perature,
and
high
impact
strength.
However,
PC
is
known
to
exhibit
poor
solvent
resistance,
poor
pro-
cessability
and
notch
sensitivity.
Though
PC
exhibits
tough
behavior
in
stress±strain
and
in
unnotched
impact
tests,
the
toughness
is
not
retained
under
con-
ditions
of
sharp
notches
and
thick
specimens.
Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene
(ABS)
copolymer
is
a
most
successful
rubber-toughened
thermoplastic,
and
has
several
attractive
properties
such
as
low
cost,
good
processability
and
notch
insensitive.
ABS
has
certain
limitations,
e.g.,
low
thermal
stability,
poor
¯ame
and
chemical
resistance.
The
combination
of
the
best
properties
of
PC
and
ABS
have
resulted
in
the
development
of
commercially
available
PC/ABS
blends
that
have
been
found
to
be
useful
in
many
European
Polymer
Journal
36
(2000)
123±129
0014-3057/99/$
-
see
front
matter
#
1999
Elsevier
Science
Ltd.
All
rights
reserved.
PII:
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