Polymer blends with modified coupling agent. II. Effects of LICA 44 grafted styrene maleic anhydride copolymer on properties of flame retardant acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene

Flame retardant acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (FR-ABS) blends were prepared by blending tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBA) and antimony trioxide (Sb2O3) into the ABS resin. LICA 44 grafted styrene-maleic anhydride (SMA-g-L44) copolymers were used as high molecular weight (MW) coupling agents to modify the properties of the FR-ABS blends, and the copolymers with different LICA 44 grafting ratios were produced via the in vivo and the in situ reactions, respectively. The LICA 44 percentage and the MW of the SMA-g-L44 copolymers are important factors influencing the effects of the high MW coupling agent. The impact strength and the tensile yield stress of SMA-g-L44 modified FR-ABS blends increased obviously. The elongation at break and the limiting oxygen index of which also showed an increasing trend after the modification. The coupling effect of SMA-g-L44 became weaker at a higher grafting ratio. SEM observation showed that the interfacial boundary in the FR-ABS became fuzzy after using the SMA-g-L44 copolymers. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.