Radiation effects on the immiscible polymer blend of nylon1010 and high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) I: Gel/dose curves, mathematical expectation theorem and thermal behaviour

This paper studies the radiation properties of the immiscible blend of nylo n1010 and HIPS. The gel fraction increased with increasing radiation dose. The network was found mostly in nylon1010, the networks were also found in both nylon1010 and HIPS when the dose reaches 0.85 MGy or more. We used the Charleby-Pinner equation and the modified Zhang-Sun-Qian equation to simul ate the relationship with the dose and the sol fraction. The latter equatio n fits well with these polymer blends and the relationship used by it showe d better linearity than the one by the Charleby-Pinner equation. We also st udied the conditions of formation of the network by the mathematical expect ation theorem for the binary system. Thermal properties of polymer blend we re observed by DSC curves. The crystallization temperature decreases with i ncreasing dose because the cross-linking reaction inhibited the crystalliza tion procession and destroyed the crystals. The melting temperature also re duced with increasing radiation dose. The dual melting peak gradually shift ed to single peak and the high melting peak disappeared at high radiation d ose. However, the radiation-induced crystallization was observed by the hea t of fusion increasing at low radiation dose. On the other hand, the crysta l will be damaged by radiation. A similar conclusion may be drawn by the DS C traces when the polymer blends were crystallized. When the radiation dose increases, the heat of fusion reduces dramatically and so does the heat of crystallization. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.