Superior heat-resistant and oil-resistant blends based on dynamically vulcanized hydrogenated acrylonitrile butadiene rubber and polyamide 12

High-performance thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs) are the new generation of TPVs that provide superior heat and oil aging behavior. TPVs based on hydrogenated acrylonitrile butadiene rubber and polyamide 12 (PA12) have been first developed by the dynamic vulcanization process, in which selective cross-linking of the elastomer phase during melt mixing with the thermoplastic phase (PA12) was carried out simultaneously. In this present investigation, hydrogenated acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR)/PA12 and partially hydrogenated carboxylated acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (XHNBR)/PA12 with blend ratio of 50:50, 60:40, and 70:30wt% were prepared at 185 degrees C at a rotor speed of 80rpm for 5min. Di-(2-tert-butyl peroxy isopropyl) benzene was chosen as the suitable cross-linking peroxide to pursue the dynamic vulcanization. TPV based on 50:50 HNBR/PA12 and XHNBR/PA12 show better physico-mechanical properties, rheological behavior, thermal stability, dynamic mechanical analysis, and creep behavior among all the TPVs. Morphology study reveals that dispersed phase morphology has been formed with an average dimension of the rubber particles in the range of 0.8-1.5 mu m. For aging test, TPVs were exposed to air and ASTM oil 3, respectively. Air aging tests were carried out in hot air oven for 72hr at 125 degrees C, while the oil aging tests were carried out after immersion of the samples into the oils in an aging oven. After aging, there is only slight deterioration in the physico-mechanical properties of the TPVs. In case of 50:50 blends of HNBR/PA12 and XHNBR/PA12, the retention of the properties upon after aging was found excellent. These TPVs are designed to find potential application in automotive sector especially for under-hood-application, where high-temperature resistance as well as high oil resistance is of prime importance. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.