PS + ABS

ABS has styrene-butadiene rubber inclusions in a styrene-acrylonitrile matrix - 2 phases - which is why you are having problems with trying to make 1 phase polystyrene. What rubbers have you tried? I would suggest a styrene-butadiene copolymer such as Kraton, Stereon or K-Resin, maybe leaning towards the smallest chain sizes, or better yet, talking with their technical service about your problem to get their suggestions.

John

Hi John and thanks for the comments, It might sound funny for you, but I tried some wastes of different TPE compounds from a nearby footwear factory :-) Presumably they contained SBS or SEBS resins, but you know when you try a waste material you never know exactly what sits inside :-) I fully agree that Kraton or Stereon should work, though I doubt whether K-Resin would be of any help. But using expensive additives in cheap plastic wastes recyling seems a bit limited anyway. May be there are some plastic/rubber scraps already containing sufficient loads of Kraton or Stereon which could be effectively blended with our PS/ABS mix? Ole

My thought for suggesting the "pricey" additives is that the higher cost might be offset by the additional revenue gained from scrapping less product.

I think that if you start adding rubber waste with variable amounts of Kraton/Sterion, you might end up needing to add something else to compensate for any additional material that goes along with that. It would remind me of the folk tale about the old lady who swallowed a fly. She then swallows a spider to catch the fly. She then swallows a bird to catch the spider, and then a cat and a dog and a goat and a cow and finally a horse (she dies, of course).

John

effectively

BLENDEX

are acrylonitrile/styrene/butadiene type rubbers sold for blending purposes may provide the improvement desired.

Ernie