Etude de copolymères ABS (acrylonitrile–butadiène–styrène): Solvatation préférentielle du polybutadiène par les promoteurs

ABS resins formed by copolymerization of styrene and acrylonitrile (AN) in presence of polybutadiene, consist of a mixture of SAN graft copolymer on polybutadiene (PBut) and of ungrafted SAN copolymer (styrene-co-acrylonitrile). The kinetic study was completed by showing a preferential solvation of polybutadiene by the initiator. This solvation effect was studied as a function of the concentration ratio SAN/PBut and in relation with the type of initiator. The adsorption of initiator appeared to be maximum when its solubility parameter (σ) is close to that of polybutadiene. As a function of the polybutadiene characteristics, this selective adsorption can be given by where I₁ is the quantity of initiator in the polybutadiene medium, I is the total amount of peroxide, PBut] is the concentration of polybutadiene, and M?_n its molecular weight. It has been shown furthermore that the preferential solvation of polybutadiene by the benzoyl peroxide can be increased by addition of SAN or acrylonitrile. The consequences of this solvation effect on the characteristics of the grafting reaction, more precisely on the molecular weight of grafted and ungrafted SAN and on the rate of polymerization, were examined.