Ethylene-α-octene copolymer （POE）/polystyrene （PS） blend pellets with fine particle sizes were prepared by diffusion and subsequent polymerization of styrene in POE pellets through a one-pot procedure. The effects of the amounts of styrene and BPO on PS content, monomer efficiency and monomer conversion were investigated. The blend pellets were characterized by Micro-FTIR and FESEM, showing homogeneous diametrical distributions of PS and particle size. After melt-processing into rods, the average particle sizes are almost doubled, but still in submicron scale. Compared to neat POE rods, the blend rods with PS content higher than 15% exhibit improved tensile modulus and tensile strength without significantly losing ductility, being attributed to the small sizes, complex nature of particles and the existence of POE-g-PS copolymer that result in good interfacial adhesion. POE/PS pellets were compared with the previously reported PP/PS pellets, and the differences between the two systems are attributed to the different morphology of the two matrices： POE is completely amorphous at the diffusion and polymerization temperature, while iPP is semicrystalline. Without efficient impediment of the crystal lamellae in POE pellets, styrene diffuses easily in POE pellets.
The diffusion and subsequent copolymerization of styrene （St）/butyl methacrylate （BMA） mixed monomers in iPP pellets to prepare copolymer nanoblends were investigated. The diffusion step was carded out at 90 ℃ for 2 h in water, and the copolymerization was initiated by the addition of BPO with the aid of a small amount of St. The diametrical distributions of both St and BMA units and their ratio St/BMA were investigated by micro FTIR. Both St and BMA can diffuse into the centres of iPP pellets. The diametrical distribution of St/BMA ratio is constant in all the copolymer blends. The copolymer composition depends on the comonomer feed ratio. The molecular weights of the copolymers were measured by GPC after extraction with tetrahydrofuran. The phase morphology of the copolymer blends was investigated by FESEM, showing the average particle sizes of less than 100 nm. DSC measurements show that the diffusion and subsequent copolymerization of St/BMA monomers only occur in the amorphous regions of iPP pellets.
Inhibitor hydroquinone （HQ） was added to the reaction system to prepare polypropylene/polystyrene （PPIPS） blend pellets without PS on the surface during diffusion and subsequent polymerization of styrene in isotactic polypropylene pellets. The effects of the amount of HQ on diametrical distribution of PS, surface morphology of the pellets and phase morphology inside the blend pellets were investigated. 2016 Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.
Polypropylene/poly（butyl methacrylate） （PP/PBMA） blends were prepared by diffusion and subseqtuent polymerization＇of butyl methacrylate （BMA） in commercial isotactic polypropylene （iPP） pellets. The diffusion kinetics, diametrical distribution of PBMA in a pellet and phase morphology of a typical PP/PBMA blend were investigated.
