Effect of the Compatibiliser on the Morphology and Properties of Dynamically Cured PP/EPDM/Epoxy Blends
Dynamic vulcanisation was successfully applied to epoxy resin reinforced polypropylene (PP)/ethylene-propylene diene elastomer (EPDM) blends, and the effects of different compatibilisers on the morphology and properties of dynamically cured PP/EPDM/epoxy blends were studied. The results show that dynamically cured PP/EPDM/epoxy blends compatibilised with maleic anhydride-grafted polypropylene (MAH-g-PP) have a three-phase structure consisting of EPDM and epoxy particles dispersed in the PP continuous phase, and these blends had improved tensile strength and flexural modulus. While using maleic anhydride-grafted EPDM (MAH-g-EPDM) as a compatibiliser, the structure of the core-shell complex phase and the PP continuous phase showed that epoxy particles could be embedded in MAH-g-EPDM in the blends, and gave rise to an increase in impact strength, while retaining a certain strength and modulus. DSC analysis showed that the epoxy particles in the blends compatibilised with MAH-g-PP were more efficient nucleating agents for PP than they were in the blends compatibilised with MAH-g-EPDM.