Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol.122, No.5, 3277-3289, 2011
Effect of Hot Air Aging on Properties of EPDM/SmBO3/EVA and EPDM/ATO/EVA Composites
Ethylene-propylene-diene rubber (EPDM)/samarium borate (SmBO3)/ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer and EPDM/antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO)/EVA composites are aged at 150 degrees C for different intervals. Surface modification is used to improve filler to matrix interphase. The main aim is to investigate the effect of filler type and vinyl acetate (VA) content in EVA on stability of EPDM composites. It is found that acidic ATO particles can lower pH level of EPDM composites and then promote the degradation of acetic acid during aging. Moreover, when VA content exceeds 14 wt %, the instable VA content causes more acetic acids escape during aging. With the increasing of aging time, EPDM/SmBO3 control and EPDM/SmBO3/EVA composites tend to become darker while EPDM/ATO and EPDM/ATO/EVA composites would become yellow. And the color change is correlated well with the variation of carbonyl index. The chemical crosslink points prevent crystals in EVA from melting at aging temperature (150 degrees C), and the variation of crosslink density influences the crystallinity during aging. The tendency of tensile strength is well consistent with that of swelling ratios, and electric properties are correlated with increased polar groups and crystallinity. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 122: 3277-3289, 2011
Keywords:ethylene-propylene-diene rubber;ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer;hot air aging;carbonyl index;swelling ratio;mechanical and electric properties