On toughness and stiffness of poly(butylene terephthalate) with epoxide-containing elastomer by reactive extrusion

To obtain a balance between toughness (as measured by notched impact strength) and elastic stiffness of poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT), a small amount of tetrafunctional epoxy monomer was incorporated into PBT/ [ethylene/methyl acrylate/glycidyl methacrylate terpolymer (E-MA-GMA)] blends during the reactive extrusion process. The effectiveness of toughening by E-MA-GMA and the effect of the epoxy monomer were investigated. It was found that E-MA-GMA was finely dispersed in PBT matrix, whose toughness was significantly enhanced, but the stiffness decreased linearly, with increasing E-MA-GMA content. Addition of 0.2 phr epoxy monomer was noted to further improve the dispersion of E-MA-GMA particles by increasing the viscosity of the PBT matrix. While use of epoxy monomer had little influence on the notched impact strength of the blends, there was a distinct increase in the elastic stiffness. SEM micrographs of impact-fracture surfaces indicated that extensive matrix shear yielding was the main impact energy dissipation mechanism in both types of blends, with or without epoxy monomer, and containing 20 wt. or more elastomer.