Abstract: The present invention discloses an article of manufacture that is comprised of a soft thermoplastic elastomer composition overmolded onto a hard substrate, such as a metal or a thermoplastic resin, wherein the soft thermoplastic composition is comprised of (a) 5 to 60 parts by weight of a thermoplastic resin, such as a polyolefin resin or polystyrene, (b) 5 to 70 parts of a rubbery elastomer that is comprised of repeat units that are derived from a conjugated diene monomer, such as 1,3-butadiene and/or isoprene, wherein the rubbery elastomer is optionally at least partially crosslinked, wherein the repeat units in the rubbery polymer are distributed throughout the rubbery polymer in an essentially random manner, and wherein the rubbery polymer is a solution polymer, (c) 5 to 90 parts of a highly saturated elastomer selected from the group consisting of styrene-ethylene butylene-styrene polymers (SEBS), styrene-ethylene propylene-styrene polymers (SEPS), hydrogenated polybutadiene, hydrogenated polyisoprene, h

Abstract: This invention discloses a process for synthesizing a hairy polymer particle which comprises the steps of (1) polymerizing a vinyl aromatic monomer by emulsion polymerization in an aqueous medium to produce core particles, (2) recovering the core particles from the aqueous medium, (3) dispersing the core particles in an organic solvent, (4) adding an organo-lithium compound to the dried core particles in the organic solvent to produce the hairless core initiator, and (5) utilizing the hairless core initiator to initiate the anionic polymerization of a conjugated diolefin monomer in an organic solvent to produce a solution of the hairy polymer particles. The hairy polymer nanoparticles can then be recovered from the organic solvent. These hairy polymer particles are comprised of (1) a core which is comprised of a polymer of a vinyl aromatic monomer and (2) hairs which are polymer chains of a conjugated diolefin monomer, wherein the hairs are covalently bonded to the core.