The effect of multifunctional monomers/oligomers Additives on electron beam radiation crosslinking of poly (styrene-block-isoprene/butadiene-block-styrene) (SIBS)

The effect of multifunctional monomers or oligomers (MFM/O) additives on electron beam (E-beam) radiation induced crosslinking of poly (styrene-block-isoprene/butadiene-block-styrene) (SIBS) was studied. Ten types of MFM/O were investigated, including trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TMPTMA), trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TMPTA), triallyl cyanurate (TAC), polybutadiene diacrylate (PB-diacrylate), ethylene glycol dimethylacrylate (EGDMA), butylene glycol dimethacrylate (BGDMA), 1,2-polybutadiene. The effects of MFM/O concentration and E-beam radiation dose on properties of SIBS were studied including tensile strength, elongation-at-break, modulus, gel content, equilibrium swelling and crosslink density. TMPTA significantly improved the tensile modulus and crosslink density of SIBS. SIBS with TMPTMA and TMTPMA with inhibitor showed a 50% increase in tensile strength. The solubility of MFM/O in SIBS was also investigated by a selective swelling method. The MFM/O were found to be soluble in both phases of SIBS. The viscosity of SIBS with methacrylate type MFM/O was stable at 200 °C.