Self-compatibilization of polymer blends prepared via concentrated emulsion diffusion polymerization

Two concentrated emulsions of styrene (St) and acrylonitrile (AN)/butyl methacrylate (BMA) in water were prepared respectively. Each system contains a small amount of initiator in the dispersed phase. This kind of emulsion has a large volume fraction of the dispersed phase (more than 74.06%). After the two concentrated emulsions were partially polymerized, they were mixed mechanically and subjected to complete polymerization. Subsequently reactions between the interfaces of different droplets occurred. During the latter diffusion polymerization, a kind of pseudo-block copolymer was generated which constituted the compatibilizers of the blend systems. Elemental Analysis, fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and mechanical strength were employed to characterize the compatibilization of the polymer blends. The results showed that the blend materials thus obtained possessed excellent compatibilization.