Enhancing the thermal stability of natural rubber/recycled ethylene-propylene-diene rubber blends by means of introducing pre-vulcanised ethylene-propylene-diene rubber and electron beam irradiation

Most rubber materials are subjected to oxidation. The rate of oxidation depends on the type of rubber, processing method, and end-use conditions. The oxidation of rubber can result in the loss of physical properties, such as tensile strength, elongation, and flexibility. Hence, the service life is determined by oxidation stability. Thermal properties are relevant to the potential use of polymeric materials in many consumer oriented applications. Thermo-oxidative ageing and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) have been proven to be successful techniques in determining the thermal stability of polymers and polymer blends. In this article, preparation of a series of natural rubber/recycled ethylene-propylene-diene rubber (NR/R-EPDM) blends is described. Processing of the blends, by means of introducing pre-vulcanised EPDM and electron beam (EB) irradiation, was carried out. Two thermal analysis methods, namely thermo-oxidative ageing and thermogravimetric analysis, were conducted. The results indicated that pre-vulcanising EPDM for 1.45min (ts - 2) is sufficient to gain the optimum retained tensile and elongation at break. It was simultaneously observed that the introduction of pre-vulcanised EPDM increased decomposition temperature and activation energy by showing optimum values at a pre-vulcanising time of 3.45 min (ts). In the latter study, the retained properties increased after EB irradiation. The results can be verified by the thermal decomposition temperature and their activation energy. The obtained TG profiles and the calculated kinetic parameters indicated that introducing EB irradiation into the blends enhanced their thermal stability. The thermal stability of the blends, processed by these two means, is significantly enhanced; irrespective of pre-vulcanising time or irradiation dose. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.