Cavitation of rubber particles in high-impact polystyrene:: Effects of crosslinking by γ-irradiation

Tensile tests on high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) show that a 60 Mrad dose of gamma-radiation raises the yield stress from 11.5 to 19.8 MPa, and the flow stress from 10.0 to 19.6 MPa, while reducing the elongation at break from 50 to 4%. Similar reductions in fracture resistance are observed in irradiated Charpy impact specimens. The T-g of the rubber phase shifts from -70 to -57 degreesC, and its estimated shear modulus increases from 0.1 to 0.5 MPa. It is concluded that the observed changes in mechanical properties are due almost entirely to crosslinking of the polybutadiene. This not only inhibits cavitation and fibrillation in the rubbery membranes of the "salami" particles, thereby delaying yield, but also makes the fibrillated membranes more resistant to further dilatation, so that rates of craze thickening in the polystyrene matrix are reduced. (C) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.