The effects of technological compatibility for silicone rubber/fluororubber blends

In this study, silicone rubber (SR) and fluororubber (FKM) blends were prepared and their properties were investigated. The crosslinking rate in the blends was increased with increase of SR content due to the silica filler existing into SR. As the content of FKM in the blends increases, the thermal decomposition temperature of the blends tended to increase and the thermal stability of 25/75 SR/FKM blend was higher than that of any other blends ratios. With the increase of FKM content in the blends, the contact angle of SR/FKM blends decreased and the surface energy increased owing to the change of the polarity of the surface. Dynamic mechanical analysis of 25/75 SR/FKM blend showed two transitions peak at −60.5 and −12.7°C, respectively, indicating the immiscibility. Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflectance studies showed shifts in the peaks due to specific interactions in the blends, and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) studies revealed that the domain sizes of the blends come to be smaller with increasing FKM content. In the blend with 75 wt % of FKM, we observed that it is technologically compatible due to the increase of physical properties and the decrease of the domain size of FE-SEM in 25/75 SR/FKM blend. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012