Adhesion Property of Benzoyl-Peroxide-Cured Epoxidized Natural Rubber/Acrylonitrile-Butadiene Rubber Blend Adhesives to Polyethylene Terephthalate Film

The loop tack, peel strength and shear strength of cross-linked epoxidized natural rubber (ENR-50)/acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR) blend adhesives were studied in the presence of coumarone-indene resin. Benzoyl peroxide was used as the cross-linking agent with dosage ranging from 1 to 5 parts per hundred rubber by weight (phr). Toluene was used as the solvent throughout the investigation. A SHEEN hand coater was used to coat the adhesive on a polyethylene terephthalate substrate at 60 and 120 μm coating thickness. The adhesive was cured at 80°C for 30 min prior to testing on a Lloyd adhesion tester operating at various testing rates from 10 to 60 cm min^?1. Results show that loop tack and peel strength of the ENR-50/NBR adhesives pass through a maximum value at 4 phr of benzoyl peroxide dosage. This observation is attributed to the increase in cohesive strength which culminates at 4 phr benzoyl peroxide loading. However, shear strength increases steadily with dosage of benzoyl peroxide due to the continuous increase in the cohesive strength as crosslinking of the rubber blend proceeds. In all cases, the adhesion properties increase with increasing coating thickness and testing rates.