EFFECTS OF ANNEALING IN ABS TERNARY BLENDS

Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene terpolymer (ABS)/poly(methyl methacryl ate) (PMMA) binary and ABS/PMMA/polycarbonate (PC) ternary blends were prepared using a corotating twin-screw extruder. Blend samples were a nnealed in a constant-temperature (215 and 225 degrees C) hydraulic pr ess up to 85 min. The changes in morphology and mechanical properties with annealing time were studied with transmission electron microscopy s image analyzer, and tensile tester. With the increase in annealing t ime, the number of dispersed domains per cross-sectional area decrease d and average domain size increased; this morphology coarsening became more responsible with time for the deterioration of blend properties. In ABS/PMMA/PC ternary blends, PMMA encapsulated PC in ABS matrix; th is was predictable from the spreading coefficient calculation. (C) 199 7 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.