Characterization of blends of PP and SBS vulcanized with gamma irradiation

The present work has the objective of analyzing blends of PP with 30 wt% SBS vulcanized with gamma irradiation. In order to do so, SBS was irradiated at 10, 25 and 50 kGy with gamma rays. Results indicate that the gel fraction increases with irradiation dose, varying from 0.3% to 13.0% for the doses employed. Concerning tensile properties, it can be seen that the incorporation of SBS non-irradiated or irradiated decreases Young's modulus, while increasing elongation at break. Respect to thermal studies, it was detected that SBS decreases melting enthalpy of blends, fact that implies a decrease on crystallinity degree, being this effect more noticeable when SBS is irradiated at doses higher than 10 kGy. On the other hand, melting temperature diminishes slightly when adding SBS to PP, but does not show significant variations when SBS is irradiated. PPs MFI decreased with the addition of SBS, being the effect more notorious with irradiation dose. Finally, it can be concluded that SBS can be vulcanized by gamma irradiation, and that the crosslinking degree increases with irradiation dose.