Softening phenomenon by remilling of styrene–butadiene copolymer rubber–general‐purpose polystyrene resin blend

Abstract

AbstractThe softening phenomenon by remilling of uncured blends of various commercia styrene—butadiene copolymer rubber (styrene content, 23.5 to 48 wt‐%, styrene block 0 to 18 wt‐%) with general‐purpose polystyrene resin was mainly studied by examining the blend ratio dependence of hardness and compression modulus (in logarithmic form), with special attention to the state of dispersion of the polymers. It was found that the blend of styrene—butadiene copolymer rubber with general‐purpose polystyrene resin forms a microheterogeneous polymer blend system and that the hardness and the compression modulus change in S‐shaped curves versus blend ratio. However, the degree of softening phenomenon by remilling (roll surface temperature, 70°–90°C) was found to be different for the two blend systems, i.e., random styrene—butadiene copolymer rubber and block styrene—butadiene copolymer rubber. The softening phenomenon is more pronounced in random‐type rubbers; and in some block‐type rubbers, no softening phenomenon was observed. The influence of the styrene content of the polymer is small. Further discussions have shown us that the strong interaction between the polystyrene block of the copolymer and the styrene homopolymer of the general‐purpose polystyrene resin controls the state of dispersion of polymers thereby causing this difference in the softening phenomena among the different kinds of styrene—butadiene copolymer rubbers.