PROCESSING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ACRYLIC POLYMERS TENACIFYED WITH MBS
acrylics; styrenic; methyl-butadiene-styrene methacrylate (MBS)
The aim of this work was to investigate the influence of the effect of the chemical structure of methyl-butadiene-styrene methacrylate (MBS) copolymer on the tenacification of the polymeric blends formed with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polystyrene (PS) and styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer (SAN). The mixtures were prepared in a twin screw extruder and then the specimens were injection molded. The analysis of the optical properties showed a greater transparency of the compositions with PS and SAN in relation to the pure polymers, presenting values of transparency superior to 75% and 90% respectively. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) showed the characteristic bands of the specific chemical structures of the blends. The spectrum did not show conformational or structural changes in the blends, and the presence of new absorption bands was not observed. The thermogravimetric analysis (TG) showed that the styrenic blends presented greater thermal stability. In the mechanical tests, an improvement in the tensile strength and modulus of elasticity of the blends was observed with the addition of MBS, showing that the amount of dispersed phase present in the blends was sufficient for its toughening. The blends with the highest amount of MBS showed a higher strain at break. The rheological results in the low frequency region showed that the presence of MBS influences the viscoelastic behavior of the blends. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed the immiscibility of the PMMA/MBS and SAN/MBS polymer blends and the miscibility of the PS/MBS blend. The photomicrographs showed the presence of dispersed phase domains of MBS evenly distributed in the PMMA and SAN polymeric matrices. The presence of these domains in the polymer matrix corroborate the other results and promote the improvement of its properties.