SEBS-Grafted Itaconic Acid as Compatibilizer for Elastomer Nanocomposites Based on BaTiO3 Particles

Itaconic acid (IA) is an organic acid produced by the fermentation of sugars with aspergillus. It has been identified as one of the top 12 building-block chemicals. Here, we report the use of IA as a possible substitute to petroleum-based compatibilizers in polymer composite. We applied this study to thermoplastic elastomers based on styrene copolymers, since they are commonly used in blends and composites. Poly(styrene-b-ethylene-butylene-b-styrene) (SEBS) was grafted with 2.6 wt.% of itaconic acid (SEBS-g-IA) prepared by a reactive melt-mixing process, and was subsequently used to prepare composites filled with BaTiO₃.). IA was successfully grafted as demonstrated by FTIR and XRD. SEBS-g-IA composites presented better mechanical properties, achieving an increase of Young modulus up to 80% compared with the neat polymer. This was ascribed to better dispersion and compatibility with the filler. Additionally, SEBS-g-IA showed increased dielectric permittivity, i.e., showed increased polarity, which indicates that it could potentially be used as a modifier for specialized polymers.