TABLE OF CONTENTS Compatibilisers make two largely incompatible polymers mix together to form a new blend or alloy. There has been a steep rise in demand for them in recent years, because polymer blends provide a fruitful way to tailor polymer properties to specific applications. They have also led to improved impact modifiers which, being polymeric, must form a blend whenever they are used. Some of the newer alloys, such as Rhodia s PA/ABS and Crompton s PP/SEBS, are highly impact-resistant. Compatibilisers are also used to improve the properties of mixed plastics waste and to compatibilise polymers with wood or mineral fillers.
Crompton s Interloy TM compatibilisers, originally owned by Basell, consist of polypropylene grafted by chemical reaction with either PMMA or polystyrene. Interloy TM compatibilisers are used to make blends of polypropylene with PMMA, ABS, PVC or various engineering plastics of a polar nature, yielding products with long-term weatherability, gloss and colour retention during UV exposure, as well as good low-temperature impact and scratch/mar resistance. They make it possible to produce very high impact polypropylene.
DuPont s Elvaloy PTW is a terpolymer made by polymerising ethylene, butyl acrylate and glycidyl methacrylate together. It can compatibilise PBT or PET with PP or the polyamides.
Arkema offers Lotader compatibilisers for recycled PET and PC/ABS mixtures. They can also improve compatibility between polymers and fillers.
Thermoplastic polyesters such as PET and PBT can be compatibilised with DuPont Dow s Engage, which consists of a copolymer of ethylene and octene, by using an ethylene-acrylic or methacrylic copolymer.
