Toughening of polyvinylchloride by core–shell rubber particles: Influence of the internal structure of core–shell particles

The work focused on the influence of the internal structure of MBS core–shell impact modifiers on the properties of PVC/MBS blends. MBS was synthesized by grafting styrene and methyl methacrylate onto PB seed latex by emulsion polymerization. Different monomer feeding manners and initiators were employed to control the internal structure of core–shell particles. The investigation of the morphology of MBS showed that when styrene monomer was fed in a semicontinuous feeding manner and redox initiator was used, core–shell particles with rarely sub-inclusions could be obtained. When preswollen manner of styrene monomer and redox initiator were employed, there were a large number of small sub-inclusions in the core of MBS. When AIBN was used as initiator, large sub-inclusions could be found in the core of MBS. The results of the Izod impact tests showed that PVC/MBS blend with MBS prepared by preswollen manner had the lowest brittle–ductile transition temperature. And TEM showed that the different internal structures of core–shell particles could lead to different deformation mechanisms. While the results of transparency tests showed that the presence of the sub-inclusions in the MBS impaired the transparency of the blends.