Synthesis and application of poly(butadiene‐g‐acrylonitrile‐styrene) core‐shell rubber particles for use in epoxy resin toughening. I. Synthesis of poly(butadiene‐g‐acrylonitrile‐styrene)

Abstract

Graft copolymers of acrylonitrile (AN)–styrene (ST) onto polybutadiene were prepared via emulsion polymerization method using a redox initiator system, cumene hydroperoxide–tetrasodium pyrophosphate–ferrous sulfate–dextrose. The effects of initiator, reaction temperature, reaction time, polymer/grafting monomer ratio, and monomer dropping frequency on the graft copolymerization reaction were investigated. Transmission electron micrographs confirmed that the synthesized particles had a core–shell shaped structure. The powdery core–shell shaped poly(butadiene-g-AN–ST) particles with various AN contents in their shells and with different shell thicknesses were prepared, which can be incorporated into brittle epoxy resin as impact modifier. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.