Solprene Elastomers for Modification of Plastics.

Block copolymers and thermoplastic rubbers may be used to improve the properties of plastics. They can be used to improve impact strength, flexibility, and to widen the spectrum of physical properties. These polymers combine well with most plastics - polystyrene, polyethylene and polypropylene - and these combinations can be obtained using conventional plastics equipment or by direct polymerization. In the case of PP, modification with a thermoplastic rubber improves its impact strength, especially at low temperature. The addition of thermoplastic rubber to polystyrene improves considerably its rupture strength and significantly reduces its fragility. For styrene-acrylonitrile and low-density polyethylene, the addition of thermoplastic rubber will also significantly improve the impact strength.