Glass fiber reinforced ABS compositions with improved stiffness and toughness

1. A thermoplastic moulding composition comprising:

5-95% of a copolymer (A) comprising: 70-76% of vinylaromatic monomer(s) (A1), 24-30% of vinyl cyanide monomer component(s) (A2) and 0-50% of one or more unsaturated copolymerizable monomers (A3);

0-60% of a graft rubber (B) comprising: 10-95% of a graft rubber core (B1) and 5-90% of a graft shell (B2), wherein the graft rubber core (B1) comprises 80-100% of rubber type monomers (B11) and 0-20% of double unsaturated monomers (B12), and wherein the graft shell (B2) comprises 75-85% of vinylaromatic monomer(s) (B21), 15-25% of vinyl cyanide monomer component(s) (B22), and 0-50% of one or more unsaturated copolymerizable monomers (B23);

5-50% of glass fiber (C); and

0.01-10% of a copolymer (D) comprising 70-100% of alkylmethacrylate monomer(s) (D1), 0-20% of alkylacrylate monomer(s) (D2), and 0-10% of another copolymerizable monomer (D3).

2. The thermoplastic moulding composition of claim 1 , wherein the rubber type monomers (B11) are one or more selected from the group consisting of butadiene, isoprene, butyl acrylate, and silicones.

3. The thermoplastic moulding composition of claim 2 , wherein the double unsaturated monomers (B12) are one or more selected from the group consisting of divinylbenzene, allyl(meth)acrylate, and multi-functional silicone.

4. The thermoplastic moulding composition of claim 3 , wherein the copolymer (A) comprises 72-76% of the vinylaromatic monomer(s) (A1) and 24-28% of the vinyl cyanide monomer component(s) (A2).

5. The thermoplastic moulding composition of claim 1 , further comprising 0-10% of a low molecular weight di-, tri- or tetra-carboxyclic acid anhydride.

6. The thermoplastic moulding composition of claim 1 , wherein the glass fiber component (C) comprises glass fibers having a diameter of 10 to 25 micrometer and a length of 0.1 to 15 mm.

7. The thermoplastic moulding composition of claim 3 , further comprising an additional functional component (E) of at least one low molecular compound containing one or more of an epoxy group or a maleic-anhydride or maleic imide-function.

8. The thermoplastic moulding composition of claim 3 , further comprising one or more further components selected from the group consisting of: dispersing agents, buffer substances, molecular weight regulators, fillers, and additives.

9. The thermoplastic moulding composition of claim 3 , wherein the graft rubber (B) has from about 20 to about 80% by weight rubber content.

10. The thermoplastic moulding composition of claim 3 , further comprising one or more additional polymer components (F) selected from the group consisting of polycarbonates, PMMA, polyesters, polyamides, polyolefins and thermoplastic polyurethanes.

11. A process for preparing the thermoplastic moulding composition comprising:

mixing a copolymer (A) and a glass fiber component (C), wherein the copolymer (A) comprises 70-76% of vinylaromatic monomer(s) (A1), 24-30% of vinyl cyanide monomer component(s) (A2) and 0-50% of one or more unsaturated copolymerizable monomers (A3); and

mixing in a copolymer (D) comprising 70-100% of alkylmethacrylate monomer(s) (D1), 0-20% of alkylacrylate monomer(s) (D2), and 0-10% of another copolymerizable monomer (D3) to the mixture of the thermoplastic copolymer (A) and the glass fiber component (C).

12. A process for preparing the thermoplastic moulding composition comprising:

mixing a copolymer (A) and a glass fiber component (C) wherein the copolymer (A) comprises 70-76% of vinylaromatic monomer(s) (A1), 24-30% of vinyl cyanide monomer component(s) (A2) and 0-50% of one or more unsaturated copolymerable monomers (A3); and

mixing in a graft rubber component (B) and a copolymer (D) to the mixture of the copolymer (A) and the glass fiber component (C),

wherein the graft rubber component (B) comprises 10-95% of a graft rubber core (B1) and 5-90% of a graft shell (B2), wherein the graft rubber core (B1) comprises 80-100% of rubber type monomers (B11) and 0-20% of double unsaturated monomers (B12), and wherein the graft shell (B2) comprises 75-85% of vinylaromatic monomer(s) (B21), 15-25% of vinyl cyanide monomer component(s) (B22), and 0-50% of one or more unsaturated copolymerizable monomers (B23); and

wherein the copolymer (D) comprises 70-100% of alkylmethacrylate monomer(s) (D1), 0-20% of alkylacrylate monomer(s) (D2), and 0-10% of another copolymerizable monomer (D3).

13. The process of claim 11 , further comprising preparing the copolymer (A) via bulk polymerization, solution polymerization or emulsion polymerization before mixing copolymer (A) and the glass fiber component (C).

14. The process of claim 11 , further comprising mixing in a graft rubber component (B) to the mixture of the thermoplastic copolymer (A) and the glass fiber component (C).

15. The process of claim 14 , wherein the graft rubber component (B) comprises 10-95% of a graft rubber core (B1) and 5-90% of a graft shell (B2), wherein the graft rubber core (B1) comprises 80-100% of rubber type monomers (B11) and 0-20% of double unsaturated monomers (B12), and wherein the graft shell (B2) comprises 75-85% of vinylaromatic monomer(s) (B21), 15-25% of vinyl cyanide monomer component(s) (B22), and 0-50% of one or more unsaturated copolymerizable monomers (B23).

16. The process of claim 14 , further comprising preparing a graft rubber component (B) via emulsion polymerization before mixing in the graft rubber component (B) to the mixture of the copolymer (A) and the glass fiber component (C).

17. The process of claim 12 , wherein the copolymer (A) is prepared via bulk polymerization, solution polymerization or emulsion polymerization.

18. The process of claim 12 , wherein the graft rubber component (B) is prepared via emulsion polymerization.