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Compatibility of waste rubber powder/polystyrene blends by the addition of styrene grafted styrene butadiene rubber copolymer: effect on morphology and properties

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Abstract

Waste rubber powder/polystyrene (WRP/PS) blends with different weight ratio were prepared with styrene grafted styrene butadiene rubber copolymer (PS-g-SBR) as a compatibilizer. The graft copolymer of PS-g-SBR was synthesized by emulsion polymerization method and confirmed through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The copolymer at different weight ratio was subsequently added into the blends. The effects of weight ratio of WRP/PS and compatibilizer loading on mechanical properties were investigated. PS/WRP blends in a weight ratio of 80/20 showed higher impact strength. Moreover, the impact strength of the blend materials increased with the addition of SBR-g-PS, however, decreased at a high loading of the copolymer. The morphology and thermal properties of WRP/PS blends were examined by DSC, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetry (TG). DSC indicated that compared with PS/WRP blend, the glass transition temperature (T g) of PS matrix phase in PS/WRP/SBR-g-PS blend shifted to low temperature because of the formation of chemical crosslinks or boundary layer between PS and WRP, and the T g of WRP phase of both the PS/WRP and PS/WRP/SBR-g-PS blends did not appear. SEM results showed that interfacial adhesion in the blends with the PS-g-SBR copolymer was improved. The morphology was a typical continuous–discontinuous structure. PS and WRP presented continuous phase and discontinuous phase, respectively, indicating the moderate interface adhesion between WRP and PS matrix. TG illustrated that the onset of degradation temperature in the PS/WRP/PS-g-SBR blend decreased slightly by contrast with PS/WRP blend and the degradation of PS/WRP blends with and without SBR-g-PS was completed about at the same values.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to Hubei Key Laboratory of Pollutant Analysis and Reuse Technology (KY2010G18) and Fujian Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials (FJKL-POLY201201) for the financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hubei Key Laboratory of Coal Conversion and New Carbon Material, College of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430081, China

    Jinlong Zhang, Hongxiang Chen, Yu Zhou, Changmei Ke & Huizhen Lu

  2. Hubei Key Laboratory of Pollutant Analysis and Reuse Technology, Huangshi, 435002, China

    Hongxiang Chen

  3. Fujian Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials, Fuzhou, 350007, China

    Hongxiang Chen

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  1. Jinlong Zhang
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  2. Hongxiang Chen
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  3. Yu Zhou
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  5. Huizhen Lu
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Correspondence to Hongxiang Chen.

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Zhang, J., Chen, H., Zhou, Y. et al. Compatibility of waste rubber powder/polystyrene blends by the addition of styrene grafted styrene butadiene rubber copolymer: effect on morphology and properties. Polym. Bull. 70, 2829–2841 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-013-0991-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-013-0991-3

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