Tough thermoplastic polyesters by reactive extrusion with epoxy‐containing copolymers

Poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) are brittle polymers with poor notched impact strength. Their toughening can be achieved by melt blending with different types of rubbery ethylene copolymers containing functions having potential reactivity with the hydroxy and carboxy end groups in polyesters. Two types of ethylene copolymers were investigated: ethylene/ethyle acrylate/glycidyl methacrylate (E/EA/GMA) and ethylene/ethyl acrylate/maleic anhydride (E/EA/MAH) copolymers. The blends were obtained by reactive extrusion of PBT with 10 to 25% of copolymers. PBT blends undergo a brittle to ductile transition by toughening with GMA copolymer between 10 and 20% of rubbery phase. The most effective toughening could be achieved by a partial crosslinking of the rubbery particles obtained by associating GMA and MAH copolymers and a reaction catalyst.