The incorporation of Epoxidized Natural Rubber (ENR) into Styrene-butadiene Rubber (SBR)/Polybutadiene Rubber (BR) blends

Abstract

In this study, the ternary rubber blends of epoxidized natural rubber (ENR), styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) and butadiene rubber (BR) are blended with eight different formulations to observe the effects of the ternary blend ratios of ENR/SBR/BR in respective testing. Tensile test was employed to analyze the tensile strength, elongation at break, modulus at 100% elongation and modulus at 300% elongation. The rheology of the compounds is observed to determine the scorch time (TS2), cure time (T90), maximum torque (MH) and minimum torque (ML) for each formulations. Swelling test is conducted to observed crosslink density of the compounds. Hardness was measured to determine the resistance to indentation of the rubber blends. The abrasion test is used to measure the amount of rubber reduced in the specimen which occurred due to the abrasion. The rebound resilience was employed to study the ratio of energy returned to energy applied. Tear test is used to identify the tear strength of the rubber blends by using crescent tear test specimens. The SEM is employed to analyze the fracture surface of the compounds after tensile test. From the result obtained, this project successfully approved that ternary blends of 30/30/40 gives better properties than other blends.