Grinding of ethylene-propylene-diene monomer vulcanizates: High-temperature sintering of rubber powder

The grinding under the action of shear deformations of vulcanizates of oil-filled ethylene-propylene-diene elastomer cured by a sulfur-based system up to different degrees of cross-linking was studied. Monodisperse powders with a predominant fraction of particle sizes 0.315-0.63mm were obtained. The effects of the cross-link density of the original vulcanizate on the content of sol fraction and the cross-link density of the rubber powder were estimated. The possibility of producing molding materials from rubber powders with enhanced rigidity using the method of high-temperature sintering was shown. The dependence of the structure and properties of molding materials on the parameters of rubber powders was studied. The mechanisms of the grinding and high-temperature sintering are proposed.