Modification of thermoplastics with styrenic block copolymers
Styrenic block copolymers (SBC) can serve to toughen and/or compatibilize a broad range of plastics. Included among these plastics are polystyrene, polyolefins, polyphenylene ether, polycarbonate, polyamides and polyesters. Selecting the correct SBC polymer to modify a selected plastic or a combination of selected plastics requires an understanding of the complex relationship between SBC structure/composition, plastic composition, blend morphology and processing conditions. This paper presents general concepts and supporting experimental evidence regarding these relationships. Of specific interest is the use of SBC or functionalized SBC (FSBC) to toughen binary polymer blends of SBC and plastic or to toughen and compatibilize blends of SBC with two or more dissimilar plastics.
