Reinforcing and toughening blends of recycled acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene/recycled high-impact polystyrene through ionic crosslinking

With the increasing attention to environmental pollution, the recycling and modification of wasted plastics has attracted more and more attention. In this study, zinc dimethacrylate (ZDMA) was first used to introduce ionic crosslinking into recycled acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (rABS)/recycled high-impact polystyrene (rHIPS) blends. On one hand, ZDMA underwent self-polymerization to form poly-ZDMA (PZDMA) particles. On the other hand, ionic crosslinks were formed by grafting with butadiene on the rABS or rHIPS chains of ZDMA. The ionic interaction between Zn2+ and unsaturated carboxylate was used to improve the compatibility between rABS and rHIPS. The enhanced impact strength, tensile strength, storage modulus and loss modulus of the blends were observed. In the case of 4 wt% ZDMA, the notched impact strength was 8.71 kJ/m2, 133% higher than that of blends without ZDMA. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed that polybutadiene (PB) had a good dispersion in rABS/rHIPS blends, the interface between rABS and rHIPS was indistinct, suggesting good compatibility. This indicated that the compatibility of rABS/rHIPS blends can be improved by using ion crosslinking.