The polypropylene-graft-cardanol (PP-g-cardanol) was prepared by reactive extrusion with polypropylene (PP) and natural renewable cardanol which could increase the interfacial energy of PP and inhibit the degradation of PP during the process of reactive extrusion and usage. In this article, PP-g-cardanol and polypropylene-graft-maleic anhydride (PP-g-MAH) were used as compatibilizers of the polypropylene (PP)/poly(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) (ABS) blends. PP/ABS (70/30, wt %) blends with PP-g-cardanol and PP-g-MAH were prepared by a corotating twin-screw extruder. From the results of morphological studies, the droplet size of ABS was minimized to 1.93 and 2.01 μm when the content of PP-g-cardanol and PP-g-MAH up to 5 and 7 phr, respectively. The results of mechanical testing showed that the tensile strength, impact strength and flexural strength of PP/ABS (70/30) blends increase with the increasing of PP-g-cardanol content up to 5 phr. The complex viscosity of PP/ABS (70/30) blends with 5 phr PP-g-cardanol showed the highest value. Moreover, the change of impact strength and tensile strength of PP/ABS (70/30) blends were investigated by accelerated degradation testing. After 4 accelerated degradation cycles, the impact strength of the PP/ABS (70/30) blends with 5 phr PP-g-cardanol decrease less than 6%, but PP/ABS (70/30) blends with 5 phr PP-g-MAH and without compatibilizer decrease as much as 12% and 32%, respectively. The tensile strength of PP/ABS (70/30) blends has a similar tendency to that of impact strength. The above results indicated that PP-g-cardanol could be used as an impact modifier and a good compatibilizer, which also exhibited better stability performance during accelerated degradation testing. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41315.

Rare earth elements can improve the performance of polymers because of their special 4f orbitals. The nucleation and stabilization of radical groups of rare earth particles can affect the structure of polypropylene (PP) and its properties. In this study, samarium oxide (Sm₂O₃) particles were used as a cocatalyst and nucleating agent in polypropylene-graft-cardanol (CAPP) grafted by reactive extrusion. The properties of polypropylene-graft-cardanol containing modified Sm₂O₃ with a titanate coupling agent (CAPPMS) were investigated by ultraviolet–visible spectrometry, polarizing microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, universal testing, and capillary rheometry with the reference of CAPP containing unmodified Sm₂O₃ particles. The results show that the titanate coupling agent (TCA-401) coated on the surface of the Sm₂O₃ particles improved the dispersion of the Sm₂O₃ particles and the adhesion between the Sm₂O₃ particles and CAPP matrix. The Sm₂O₃ particles promoted more cardanol to graft onto PP. Acting as nucleator for CAPP, the Sm₂O₃ particles increased the crystallization rate, increased the melting temperature, and decreased the spherulite size of CAPP. The modified Sm₂O₃ particles showed a greater effect on the mechanical and rheological properties than the unmodified Sm₂O₃ particles did. The tensile strength, impact strength and flexural strength of CAPPMS increased by 10 MPa, 0.64 kJ/m², and 6.5 MPa, respectively, compared to those of CAPP when we used 4.5 mol % modified Sm₂O₃ particles. The viscosity of CAPPMS increased to a certain extent in the presence of the modified Sm₂O₃. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 41012.