MATERIALS | COMPATIBILISERS
CAI Performance Additives says that using ST-AN3220 at 5-7% in PA/ABS blends provides strong improvements in impact resistance and toughness
Source: CAI
performance of rPP through compatibilisation and optimised reactive extrusion. Blends of rPP with PA12 aimed to combine the thermomechanical properties of PA with the processability of PP, using a MAH-grafted compati- biliser additive to create a diblock copolymer of the PPgMAH and PA in-situ (in the extruder) that then acts at the interface of rPP and PA in the blend to compatibilise these otherwise incompatible polymers. The non-compatibilised blend (50/50 rPP/PA) demonstrated a lower ultimate tensile stress than neat PA12, indicating weak points in the blend, but the compatibilised blends (40 rPP/10 PPgMAH/50 PA) were similar to the neat PA12, indicating an improved interface with fewer weak points and the ability to use recycled material but maintain strength, noted Lucivan Barros, Senior Applications Scientist in Extrusion at Thermo Fisher Scientific, in the presentation. The scientists also evaluated the capability of FTIR mapping, using a Thermo Fisher Scientific FTIR spectrometer combined with FTIR micro- scope, to evaluate mixing and compare the non-compatibilised blend and the compatibilised blend. The mapping method characterises the surface
of a sample using multiple scans to determine the spatial distribution of chemical species, and it was able to show that the compatibilised formula showed better blending, said Ron Rubinovitz, Senior Applications Scientist in Spectroscopy, at Thermo Fisher Scientific, in the presentation. One way to visualise this difference is to look at the range of the ratio of PA to PP peak-area from the scans. In the reactive blend, the range is much smaller, indicating better blending. Compounders are facing increasing pressure to
44 COMPOUNDING WORLD | May 2026
The range of the ratio of PA to PP peak-area is smaller in the reactive blend, indicating better blending Source: Thermo Fisher Scientific.
meet more stringent specifications for odour and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, leading to the need for reformulation to reduce odour associated with compatibiliser chemistries, said Torey McCleskey, COO at CAI Performance Additives.
Reducing odour “[This trend is] driven by electric vehicle interior standards (particularly from Asian OEMs), tighten- ing Reach requirements in Europe, and consumer electronics brands specifying low-emission compounds for device enclosures,” McCleskey reported. “Compatibiliser chemistry has historically been tolerated for its smell, but that tolerance is going away. CAI’s position is to offer performance- equivalent options that solve the odour/VOC issue without a dosage or processing penalty.” The company’s MAH-grafted PP compatibiliser,
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