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 Tg 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.