M Ranjbar - Islamic Azad University of Parsian, Aryasasol Polymer Company,Iran
A Arefazar - Amirkabir University of Technology, Iran
GH Bakhshandeh - Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute (IPPI), Iran

The effect of Maleated Styrene/Ethylene-Butylene/Styrene (SEBS-g-MA) and organoclay contents on the constituting balance between stiffness/strength versus toughness/ductility by melt blending with Polypropylene (PP) in an internal mixer has been investigated. In this direction, 9 different formulations varying in montmorillonite (MMT) and SEBS-g-MA contents were made. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to evaluate the effects of the Org-MMT and SEBS-g-MA additions on the structure of nanocomposites. XRD traces showed that the characteristic (001) peak of the nanocomposites shifted to the lower angle region. On the other hand, XRD and TEM results showed simultaneous existence exfoliated and intercalated structure in produced nanocomposites. The tensile properties and impact strength are discussed in terms of the MMT and rubber contents and morphology. Adding of nanoclay enhanced the stiffness properties (modulus and strength) but reduced their toughness properties (impact strength). On the other hand, adding of SEBS-g-MA reduced stiffness but increase toughness properties. Also, SEM micrographs considered in this project. As a main result, we gain access a best, optimum composition that which, there is a clear trade-off between stiffness/strength versus toughness/ductility, in this work.

Nanocomposites; Toughening; Morphology; SEBS-g-MA; Polypropylene