Rubber toughening of polystyrene–acrylonitrile copolymers

The efficiency of rubber toughening of PSAN depends on the size of the rubber particles, their agglomeration, the deformation rate, the temperature, and the orientation of the polymer molecules. Large particles are more effective than small particles. By a suitable choice of processing, however, small particles can agglomerate, forming large soft units and improving in this way impact toughness. At high deformation rates crazing or/and stretching of the matrix wall between the rubber particles must be activated for ductility, otherwise the material is brittle. The temperature at impact must be above the glass transition temperature of the rubbery phase for toughening. Increasing the orientation of the material decreases the tendency for craze formation with the consequence of embrittlement, if stretching is not activated.