In this work, an evaluation was made of the toughening of polystyrene (PS) with three types of polybutadiene (PB): low-cis polybutadiene (PBl), high-cis polybutadiene (PBh ) and styrene-butadiene block (SBS) copolymer (PBco). The impact strength increased 138, 208 and 823% when low-cis polybutadiene, high-cis polybutadiene and styrene-butadiene block copolymer, were used, respectively. The materials presented dispersed morphology with domains smaller than 1 µm, randomly distributed in the polystyrene matrix. The flow activation energy, calculated by Arrhenius equation, varied from 34 to 71 kJ/mol. In the rheological experiments all polymer blends presented pseudoplastic behavior.
Toughening; polystyrene; polybutadiene; properties
