Properties of recycled polypropylene/chloroprene rubber blends: The effects of dynamic vulcanisation

This work examined the tensile, thermal, morphology and swelling properties of unvulcanised and dynamically vulcanised recycled polypropylene (RPP)/chloroprene rubber (CR) blends at different blend ratios. The results indicated that the tensile strength and Young's modulus of both the unvulcanised and dynamically vulcanised RPP/CR blends were reduced. However, elongation at the breaking point increased with increasing CR content. In contrast, the dynamic vulcanisation enhanced the tensile properties, melting temperature (Tm), enthalpy (ΔHf) and crystallinity (Xb) in comparison with the unvulcanised RPP/CR blends. The swelling percentage of the dynamically vulcanised RPP/CR blends was lower than the unvulcanised blends due to the presence of crosslinks after the dynamic vulcanisation occurred. © Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2016.