Mechanical properties,oil resistance,and thermal aging properties in chlorinated polyethylene/natural rubber blends

The use of natural rubber (NR) for partly substituting elastomeric chlorinated polyethylene (CPE) was determined. Mechanical and thermal aging properties as well as oil resistance of the blends were also investigated. The amount of NR in blends significantly affected the properties of the blends. The blends with NR content up to 50 wt % possessed similar tensile strength to that of pure CPE even after oil immersion or thermal aging. Modulus and hardness of the blends appeared to decrease progressively with increasing NR content. These properties also decreased in blends after thermal aging. After oil immersion, hardness decreased significantly for the blends with high NR content, whereas no change in modulus was observed. The dynamic mechanical properties were determined by dynamic mechanical thermal analysis. NR and CPE showed damping peaks at about ?40 and 4 °c, respectively; these values correlate with the glass‐transition temperatures (T_g) of NR and CPE, respectively. The shift in the T_g values was observed after blending, suggesting an interfacial interaction between the two phases probably caused by the co‐vulcanization in CPE/NR blends. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 84: 22–28, 2002; DOI 10.1002/app.10171     

Relationship among phase morphology,oil resistance,and thermal aging properties in CPE/NR blends: effect of blending conditions

The CPE/NR blends with blend ratio of 50/50% by weight were prepared with various blending conditions. The resistance to oil and thermal aging of the blends was investigated and correlated with phase morphology. The NR dispersed phase size in blends was found to decrease with increasing rotor speed up to 45 rpm and subsequently level off at higher rotor speeds. With increasing mixing time at a given rotor speed, NR dispersed phase size reached a minimum and increased again with a further increase in mixing time, caused by domain breakup and phase coalescence, respectively. In addition, the results revealed a strong relationship between NR phase size and resistances to oil as well as thermal aging, that is, the smaller the dispersed phase size, the higher the oil resistance and the thermal aging properties. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 4038–4046, 2003