Effect of Maleated Styrene/Ethylene-co-Butylene/Styrene on the Dispersed Particles Size and Mechanical Properties of Polyamide 6/Poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile)/Poly(styrene-b-(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-styrene) Ternary Blends

In this study, the effect of several parameters, including composition, order of mixing, viscosity, and interfacial tension, on the phase structure and size of dispersed particles of polyamide 6 (PA6)/poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) SAN/poly(styrene-b-(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-styrene) (SEBS) ternary blends was investigated. Moreover, the effect of addition of different ratios of reactive SEBS (maleic anhydride grafted-SEBS) and non-reactive SEBS at a fixed order of mixing and composition of 70/15/15 (PA6/SAN/SEBS + SEBS-g-MAH) on the mechanical properties of ternary blends was examined. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs showed that among the studied parameters, interfacial tension and viscosity of dispersed phases were the leading factors in the formation of morphology and size of dispersed droplets. Mechanical results revealed that in contrast to the expectation, formation of core/shell structure of PA6/SAN/SEBS ternary blends did not result in a significant increasing of impact strength. The highest impact strength was achieved when a 50/50 weight ratio of SEBS/SEBS-g-MAH was used.