IMPACT MODIFICATION OF ENGINEERING THERMOPLASTICS

Impact modification was studied for a variety of engineering thermoplastics to determine if notched Izod data obtained at various temperatures and modifier concentrations could be correlated with particle size or surface-to-surface interparticle distance of the modifier. Elastomers evaluated were characteristic of those used in commercial blend systems for those polymers, and both functionalized and nonfunctionalized materials were studied. For the single matrix polymer/elastomer-modified blend systems studied [poly (phenylene sulfide) (PPS), polyoxymethylene (POM), poly (butylene terephthalate) (PBT)], elastomer interparticle distance provides a better correlation to brittle-tough transition temperature than does particle size, as predicted by the Wu model. In POM, the dispersion morphology of the samples used was not adequate to achieve the critical interparticle distance required for supertoughening at room temperature. In this study, the critical interparticle distance has been shown to depend on the degree of crystallinity (PPS) and the modulus of the impact modifier relative to the matrix (PBT). Actual adhesion of the polymer to the matrix (variation of functionality levels) was not found to have a strong influence (PBT). In POM, the increase in impact at the brittle-tough transition was dependent on the molecular weight of the base resin. This is examined with respect to the ratio of the molecular weight (M(n)) to the entanglement molecular weight (M(e)), which determines the critical molecular weight necessary to achieve useful physical properties. In polyester (PET)/polycarbonate (PC)/elastomer blends, the molecular weight of the primary matrix resin (PET) determined impact properties within the molecular weight range of the resin studied. This was again related to the M(n)/M(e) ratio for PET and PC. (C) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.