The effect of composition and the level of crosslinking of the poly(methylmethacrylate) phase on the properties of natural rubber‐poly(methylmethacrylate) semi‐2 interpenetrating polymer networks

The effects of the PMMA content and the cross‐linker level in the poly(methylmethacrylate) component on the dynamic and physico‐mechanical properties of semi‐2 interpenetrating polymer networks based on natural rubber and poly(methylmethacrylate) were determined. The miscibility of the components in these semi‐2 interpenetrating polymer networks was determined using the loss tangent data, obtained from dynamic mechanical thermal analysis and the interphase contents were calculated from modulated scanning calorimetric data. Some component mixing in these semi‐2 interpenetrating polymer networks was evident from these modulated differential scanning calorimetric and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis data. The degree of component mixing increased with cross‐linker level in the PMMA phase. The PMMA content in the semi‐2 IPNs has a significant effect on the tensile and hysteresis behavior of these semi‐2 interpenetrating polymer networks. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012