Thermoplastic elastomeric blend of nitrile rubber and poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile). II. Replacement of nitrile rubber by its vulcanizate powder

✍ Scribed by S. Anandhan; P. P. De; Anil K. Bhowmick; S. K. De; S. Bandyopadhyay

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 217 KB
• Volume: 90
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-8995
• DOI: 10.1002/app.12862

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

A model waste nitrile rubber powder (w‐NBR) was prepared by ambient grinding of aged NBR vulcanizate based on an oil seal formulation. The w‐NBR was characterized by scanning electron microscopic and optical microscopic techniques. Virgin nitrile rubber in a thermoplastic elastomeric 70:30 nitrile rubber/poly(styrene‐co‐acrylonitrile) (SAN) blend was replaced by w‐NBR, and the mechanical properties and swelling index were determined. The virgin NBR in the blend was replaced by the rubber present in w‐NBR (r‐w‐NBR) and the optimum mechanical properties were achieved at 45% replacement where the blend was still reprocessable. Transmission electron microscopic and atomic force microscopic studies reveal that w‐NBR particles coated with NBR are dispersed in a continuous SAN matrix. It was observed that migration of unreacted curatives from w‐NBR to virgin NBR is not significant and incorporation of curatives is necessary for attainment of optimum level of mechanical properties. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 2348–2357, 2003