Excellent Compatibilization Effect of a Dual Reactive Compatibilizer on the Immiscible MVQ/PP Blends

Methyl vinyl silicone rubber (MVQ)/polypropylene (PP) thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) combines the good melt processability, recyclability and sealing performance as well as biosafety, stain and fluid resistance, and thus it is especially suitable in bio-safety areas and wearable electronic devices, etc. Nevertheless, the compatibility between MVQ and PP phases is poor. A big challenge on the compatibilization of MVQ/PP blends is that neither MVQ nor PP contains any reactive groups. In this study, a dual reactive compatibilizer composed of ethylenemethyl acrylate-glycidyl methacrylate terpolymer (EMA-co-GMA) and maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (PP-g-MAH) was designed for the compatibilization of MVQ/PP blends. During melt blending, a copolymer compatibilizer at the MVQ/PP interface can be formed because of the in situ reaction between EMA-co-GMA and PP-g-MAH. The thermodynamic predict of its compatibilization effect through calculating the spreading coefficient of the in situ formed copolymer indicates that it can well compatibilize MVQ/PP blends. The experimental results show that under the GMA/MAH molar ratio of 0.5/1, the interface thickness largely increase from 102 nm for non-compatibilized blend to 406 nm, and the average size of MVQ dispersed phase largely decreases from 2.3 µm to 0.36 µm, the T _g of the two phases shifts toward each other, the mixing torque and mechanical properties of the blend are increased, all indicating its good compatibilization effect. This study provides a good compatibilizing method for immiscible MVQ/PP blends with no reactive groups in both components for the preparation of high performance MVQ/PP TPVs.