Abstract
The radial, branched, styrene-butadiene block-copolymers with different polybutadiene block microstructures have been synthesized via anionic two stages sequential polymerization of monomers in solution, followed by the coupling reaction with SiCl4. This synthesis route involves the polymerization of styrene first, and after that polystyril-lithium was modified with variable amounts of tetrahydrofurane before introducing the butadiene, in order to obtain the middle polybutadiene block with different microstructure. The paper shows the effect of the polybutadiene block microstructure on the HDPE blending modification. The HDPE modification is meant to improve the mechanical properties, especially impact resistance.
Keywords: styrene-butadiene block-copolymers; microstructure; polyethylene