Claims
- 1. A process for preparing a compatible polymer blend, comprising reactive melt mixing a mixture consisting essentially of
- A) 40 to 80% by weight polyphenylene ether,
- B) 20 to 60% by weight of a C.sub.2-4 olefin-(alkyl)acrylic acid random copolymer containing from 4 to 15 wt. % acrylic acid monomer units, and
- C) 0.1-3.0wt.%, based on the sum of (A) and (B), of a carboxylic anhydride.
- 2. The process of claim 1, comprising reactive melt mixing 50-70% by weight of said polyphenylene ether, and 30-50% by weight of said olefin-(alkyl)acrylic acid random copolymer.
- 3. The process of claim 1, wherein said reactive melt mixing is conducted for a period of time ranging from 0.5 to 2 minutes.
- 4. The process of claim 1, wherein said reactive melt mixing is conducted in an extruder.
- 5. The process of claim 1, comprising reactive melt mixing said polymers (A) and (B) and 1-2.5 wt. % of said carboxylic anhydride (C).
- 6. The process of claim 1, wherein said carboxylic anhydride is a C.sub.9-20 aromatic, C.sub.4-20 aliphatic or mixed aromatic/aliphatic anhydride.
- 7. The process of claim 1, wherein the polymer formed by said reactive melt mixing consists of polyphenylene ether covalently bonded to said olefin-(alkyl)acrylic acid random copolymer through ester bonds.
- 8. The process of claim 1, wherein said reactive melt mixing is conducted in the presence of an esterification catalyst.
- 9. The process of claim 1, comprising reactive melt mixing said polyphenylene ether with said olefin-(alkyl)acrylic acid random copolymer and benzoic anhydride.
- 10. The process of claim 1, comprising reactive melt mixing said polyphenylene ether with an ethylene-acrylic acid random copolymer and benzoic anhydride.
- 11. The process of claim 1, wherein said olefin-(alkyl)acrylic acid random copolymer is an ethylene-acrylic acid random copolymer.
- 12. The process of claim 1, wherein said olefin-(alkyl)acrylic acid random copolymer is an ethylene-(meth)acrylic acid random copolymer.
- 13. The process of claim 1, wherein said polyphenylene ether is dispersed as droplets having an average particle size of about 0.1-2 microns in diameter in said olefin-(alkyl)acrylic acid random copolymer.
- 14. The process of claim 13, wherein said polyphenylene ether is dispersed as droplets having an average particle size of about 0.5-1 microns in said olefin-(alkyl)acrylic acid random copolymer.
- 15. The process of claim 1, wherein said polyphenylene ether is poly (2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene ether).
- 16. A polymer blend obtained by the process of claim 1.
RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. no. 07/898,829 filed Jun. 15, 1992 now U.S. Pat. No. 286,793.
US Referenced Citations (10)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
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JPX |
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JPX |
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JPX |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (2)
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Polymer Engineering and Science, (1992) 32:1876-1885, "Properties of a Thermotropic Liquid Crystalline Polymer Blended with Different Thermoplastics", Chapleau et al. |