Morphology and properties of blends of polypropylene with ethylene‐propylene rubber

TLDR

Toughening isotactic polypropylene has attracted significant attention in recent years to enhance its performance. This study investigates the compatibility of PP with ethylene‑propylene‑diene rubber, polybutadiene rubber, and styrene‑butadiene rubber by characterizing blend morphology. The authors examined the morphology and properties of binary PP/EPT blends and ternary PP/EPT/PE blends. The blends showed that EPT markedly improves low‑temperature impact strength and other properties, revealing distinct compatibilities among EPT, PB, and SBR, with EPT acting as both toughening agent and compatibilizer, though additional EPT in EPT/PP altered morphology without further property gains.

Abstract

Abstract Great attention has been paid to the toughening of isotactic polypropylene (PP) in recent years in order to make full use of this plastic. This paper presents the results of our study on the compatibility of PP with ethylene‐propylene‐diene rubber (EPT), polybutadiene rubber (PB) or styrene‐butadiene rubber (SBR) through characterization of the blends' morphology, and on. the morphology and properties of binary blends of PP with EPT (EPT/PP) and ternary blends of PP, EPT, and polyethylene (PE) (EPT/PE/PP). Morphological structure of solution blends and the great improvement in low‐temperature impact strength and other properties of the mechanical blends have shown the difference among EPT, PB, and SBR in compatibility with PP, the effectiveness of using EPT as PP's toughening agent, and the effect of EPT on EPT/PP blend as both toughening agent and compatibilizer. Addition of EPT to EPT/PP made interesting changes in morphology but no effect on properties was observed.