The effect of curing system on the properties of the thermoplastic elastomer foams of ethylene‐vinyl acetate copolymer and styrene‐butadiene and ethylene‐propylene‐diene monomer rubbers

Thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) foams have important application in electrical, toys, and other industries. Several foams were prepared by ethylene‐vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) lonely, and in combination with styrene‐butadiene and ethylene‐propylene‐diene monomer rubbers (SBR and EPDM). The effects of crosslinking and foaming agents and EVA type on density and mechanical properties of the cured foams with two curing systems, peroxide and sulfur‐peroxide with potential use in automotive applications, were studied. The results showed that proposed compounds formulations were foamed properly. The viscosity of the EVA was a key factor for the density values of the formed foams. The densities of the cured foams with peroxide system with various SBR contents were higher when compared with cured foams with sulfur‐peroxide system. With increasing foaming agent, the densities of the foams were reduced for studied curing systems. The densities of the EVA–EPDM foams were lower than those of the EVA–SBR foams in the same studied conditions. Increasing rubber in foam formulation had adverse effect on tensile properties of the foams. The existence of the talc powder in foam formulation had important role on the shape and type of the formed cells and resulted in foams with mostly closed cells. The results of this study help the automotive article designer to produce suitable TPE foam. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 45357.