Morphology development and phase inversion during dynamic vulcanisation of EPDM/PP blends

Morphology development and phase inversion were investigated during dynamic vulcanisation of ethylene–propylene–diene terpolymer (EPDM)/polypropylene (PP) blends. The effects of viscosity ratio and cross-linking reactions were also addressed. EPDM/PP blends were dynamically vulcanised in a Haake batch mixer using resole and SnCl₂ as cross-linking agents. The morphology development and cross-linking degree with reaction time were followed by morphology analysis (SEM and TEM) and measurement of EPDM gel content, respectively. For the same reaction time, it was found that the EPDM gel content decreased when the low-molecular-weight EPDM was used. As a result, the morphological development was delayed and the phase-inversion point was shifted to higher reaction times, allowing us to monitor morphological development during a thermoplastic vulcanisate (TPV) preparation. Using the low-molecular-weight EPDM and increasing the PP viscosity accelerated the morphological development, shifting phase-inversion to lower reaction times. While blend composition influenced final TPV morphology, it had a minor effect on the mechanism of morphological development. A correlation between cross-linking degree and morphology development was established. The results obtained allowed to propose a mechanism of morphology development during dynamic vulcanisation of the EPDM/PP blends, including phase inversion.