Novel fluorosilicone thermoplastic vulcanizates prepared via core‐shell dynamic vulcanization: Effect of fluororubber/silicone rubber ratio on morphology,crystallization behavior,and mechanical properties

Recently, we have reported a novel core‐shell dynamic vulcanization method to prepare poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)/fluororubber (FKM)/silicone rubber (SR) thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs) with cross‐linked rubber core‐shell particles. However, the shell thickness on the properties has not been studied in detail. Herein, these PVDF‐based TPVs different FKM‐shell thickness were prepared by changing FKM/SR ratios. The effect of FKM‐shell/SR‐core ratio on morphology, crystallization, and mechanical properties of the ternary TPVs was studied. The results showed that the FKM shell had more positive effect on interfacial‐induced crystallization behavior than the SR core due to its better compatibility with PVDF. When the FKM/SR ratio was <1, FKM was not enough to encapsulate SR completely, which resulted in the formation of imperfect core‐shell structure. However, when the FKM/SR ratio was >1, perfect core‐shell structure was formed. Therefore, the mechanical properties improved with increasing FKM content; especially, a remarkable improvement was observed when FKM/SR ratio was >1. This study could provide more information for the design of TPVs with core‐shell structure.     

Preparation and properties of dynamically cured poly(vinylidene fluoride)/silicone rubber blends

Blends of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and silicone rubber (SR) were prepared through dynamic vulcanization. The effects of SR content on crystallization behavior, rheology, dynamic mechanical properties and morphology of the blends were investigated. Morphology characterization shows that the crosslinked spherical SR particles with an average diameter of 2-4 μm form a “network” in the PVDF continuous phase. The dynamic mechanical properties indicate the interface adhesion between PVDF and rubber phase is improved by the dynamic vulcanization. The rheology study shows that with the increase of rubber content the blends pseudoplastic nature is retained, while the viscosity increases, and hence the processability is less good. The incorporation of SR phase promotes the nucleation process of PVDF, leading to increased polymer crystallization rate and crystallization temperature. However, a higher content of SR seems to show a negative effect on the crystallinity of the PVDF component.     

Influence of size reduction of crosslinked rubber particles on phase interface in dynamically vulcanized poly (vinylidene fluoride)/silicone rubber blends

In this paper, the influence of rubber particle size on the phase interface in dynamically vulcanized poly(vinylidene fluoride)/silicone rubber (PVDF/SR) blends without any modifier is discussed through the studies of specific surface of crosslinked SR particles, crystallization behavior and crystal morphology of the PVDF phase, interfacial crystallization, melt rheological behavior and mechanical properties of blends. A series of decreased average particle size was successfully obtained by control of rotor rate. It was found that properly high rotor rate helped to achieve a reduced particle size and a narrowing size distribution. The reduced SR particle size enlarged the PVDF/SR interface which has a positive effect on the interfacial crystallization and the melt rheological behavior. At high SR content, the negative effect of the poor interface interactions played the dominate role on determining the mechanical properties. However, the blend exhibited a unique stiffness-toughness balance at the PVDF/SR = 90/10. We hope that the present study could help to lay a scientific foundation for further design of a useful PVDF/SR blend with promoted properties to partly replace the high-cost synthetic fluorosilicone materials.     

Preparation of high damping elastomer with broad temperature and frequency ranges based on ternary rubber blends

Based on the blends of chlorinated butyl rubber (CIIR), nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) and chloroprene rubber (CR), a kind of high damping elastomer with broad temperature and frequency ranges is prepared. CIIR/NBR binary blend is prepared to take advantage of the immiscibility and the large difference in cross‐link density of the different phases caused by the curatives and accelerators migration. The dynamic mechanical analysis reveals that the binary blend was immiscible and its loss factor (tanδ) versus temperature curves show two separated and expanded loss peaks when compared with those of pure cured CIIR and NBR. In order to improve its damping properties at room temperature, the third component CR with the polarity between CIIR and NBR was blended into the binary blend. The resulted CIIR/NBR/CR ternary blend has gained effective damping properties (tanδ > 0.3) in the temperature range of ?86.4 to 74.6°C and the frequency range of 10^?2 to more than 10⁹ Hz. Other effects on the damping properties of the ternary rubber were also studied. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparison of PVDF/MWNT,PMMA/MWNT,and PVDF/PMMA/MWNT nanocomposites: MWNT dispersibility and thermal and rheological properties

Pristine multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were incorporated into poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and PVDF/PMMA blends to achieve binary and ternary nanocomposites. MWNTs were more compatible with the PVDF matrix than with the PMMA-containing matrices. MWNT addition did not alter the development of α-form PVDF crystals in the binary/ternary composites. Nucleation and overall isothermal crystallization of PVDF were enhanced by the presence of MWNTs, and enhancements were optimal in the PVDF/MWNT binary composites. Avrami analysis revealed that addition of MWNTs led to more extensive athermal-type nucleation of PVDF, and that PMMA slightly decreased the crystal growth dimension of PVDF. The equilibrium melting temperature (T_m°) of PVDF increased in the binary composites but remained nearly constant in the ternary system. Thermal stability was enhanced in the binary/ternary composites, and enhancements were more evident in the air environment than in nitrogen. Rheological property measurements revealed that the intensely entangled chains of high-molecular weight PVDF dominated the rheological response of PVDF-included samples in the melt state. A (pseudo)network structure was developed in each of the PVDF-included samples as well as in the 1 phr MWNT-added PMMA/MWNT composite. The storage moduli of the PVDF, PMMA, and PVDF/PMMA:1/1 blend increased to 37%, 22% and 34%, respectively, at 40 °C after addition of 1 phr MWNT.     

Dynamic mechanical properties of chlorinated butyl rubber blends

The binary blends are prepared by chlorinated butyl rubber (CIIR) and 3,9-bis[1,1-dimethyl-2{β-(3-tert-butyl-4-hydroxy-5-methylphenyl)propionyloxy}ethyl]-2, 4, 8,10-tetraoxaspiro[5,5]-undecane (AO-80), which are investigated by dynamic mechanical analysis and thermal analysis. It is shown that CIIR/AO-80 blends clearly exhibit two kinds of relaxations, which are attributed to the relaxation of CIIR-rich matrix and AO-80-rich domains, respectively, and attenuated total reflection (ATR)-FTIR spectrum indicates that the existence of intermolecular hydrogen bonds between AO-80 and CIIR. When AO-80 is replaced by petroleum resins, only one loss peak appears, and the position of it is related to the softening point and the content of the petroleum resin. In order to regulate the damping property of CIIR/petroleum resin blend, the ternary blend of CIIR/petroleum resin/AO-80/is prepared and a second peak appears at higher temperature indicating that a good damping material is obtained.     

A novel method for the pore size control of the battery separator using the phase instability of the ternary mixtures

The battery separator plays a key role in determining the capacity of the battery. Since separator performance mainly depends on the pore size of membrane, development of a technique for the fabrication of the membrane having controlled pore size is essential in producing a highly functional battery separator. In this study, microporous membranes having the desired pore size were produced via thermally‐induced phase separation (TIPS) process. Control of the phase boundaries of polymer‐diluent blends is the main concern in manipulating pore size in TIPS process, because pore size mainly depends on the temperature gap between phase separation temperature of the blend and the crystallization temperature of polymer. Microporous membranes having controlled pore size were produced from polyethylene (PE)/dioctyl phthalate (DOP) blends, PE/isoparaffin blends, and polymer/diluent‐mixture ternary blends, that is, PE/(DOP/isoparaffin) blends. PE/DOP binary blends and PE/(DOP/isoparaffin) ternary blends exhibited typical upper critical solution temperature (UCST) type phase behavior, while PE formed a homogeneous mixture with isoparaffin above the crystallization temperature of PE. When the mixing ratio of polymer and diluent‐mixture was fixed, the phase separation temperature of PE/diluent‐mixture blend first increased with increasing DOP content in the diluent‐mixture, went through a maximum centered at about 80 wt % DOP and then decreased. Furthermore, the phase separation temperatures of the PE/diluent‐mixture blends were always higher than that of the PE/DOP blend when diluent‐mixture contained more than or equal to 20 wt % of DOP. Average pore size of microporous membrane prepared from PE/DOP blend and that prepared from PE/isoparaffin blend were 0.17 and 0.07 μm, respectively. However, average pore size of microporous membrane prepared from ternary blends was varied from 0.07 to 0.5 μm by controlling diluent mixing ratio. To understand the phase behavior of ternary blend, phase instability of the ternary mixture was also explored. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 2025–2034, 2006     

Crystalline Morphology and Crystallization Kinetics of Melt-miscible Crystalline/Crystalline Polymer Blends of Poly（vinylidene fluoride） and Poly（butylene succinate-co-24mol% hexamethylene succinate）

Poly（vinylidene fluoride） （PVDF） and poly（butylene succinate-co-24 mol% hexamethylene succinate） （PBHS）, both crystalline polymers, formed melt-miscible crystalline/crystalline polymer blends. Both the characteristic diffraction peaks and nonisothermal melt crystallization peak of each component were found in the blends, indicating that PVDF and PBHS crystallized separately. The crystalline morphology and crystallization kinetics of each component were studied under different crystallization conditions for the PVDF/PBHS blends. Both the spherulitic growth rates and overall isothermal melt crystallization rates of blended PVDF decreased with increasing the PBHS composition and were lower than those of neat PVDF, when the crystallization temperature was above the melting point of PBHS component. The crystallization mechanism of neat and blended PVDF remained unchanged, despite changes of blend composition and crystallization temperature. The crystallization kinetics and crystalline morphology of neat and blended PBHS were further studied, when the crystallization temperature was below the melting point of PBHS component. Relative to neat PBHS, the overall crystallization rates of the blended PBHS first increased and then decreased with increasing the PVDF content in the blends, indicating that the preexisting PVDF crystals may show different effects on the nucleation and crystal growth of PBHS component in the crystalline/crystalline polymer blends.     

Investigation of phase morphology of incompatible polyethylene/nylon 6 blends containing EPDM-based functionalized compatibilizers

Graft copolymer and graft terpolymer were prepared by solution grafting of maleic anhydride (MAH) or acrylonitrile (AN) alone and mixture of MAH and AN on to ethylene–propylene–diene terpolymer (EPDM) using benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as an initiator. The resulting EPDM-g-MAH, EPDM-g-AN and EPDM-g-(MAH-co-AN) have been used to obtain a binary blend of Nylon 6/functionalized EPDM and a ternary blend of polyethylene/Nylon 6/functionalized EPDM by melt blending. The effects of the nature and the amount of the grafted species on the phase morphology, crystallization behavior and mechanical properties of the blends were characterized through scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy, infrared spectroscopy and using a dynamic mechanical analyzer. From the morphological study, it can clearly be seen that the presence of the functionalized EPDMs in these blends resulted in an improvement of the dispersion degree in incompatible polyethylene/Nylon 6 blends.     

Crystallization behavior,tensile behavior and hydrophilicity of poly(vinylidene fluoride)/polyethylene glycol blends

In this study, polyethylene glycol (PEG) of different molecular weight was added into poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) through melt blending. The hydrophilicity, processability, mechanical properties of the blends were investigated. Moreover, to understand fully, the crystallization and melting behavior, crystalline structure, molecular interactions of the blends were also studied. Results revealed that the addition of PEG evidently enhances the ductile and reduces the rheological torque of PVDF, what’s more, the contact angle of the blends with water was greatly reduced. The solid surface tension γ_s, chromatic dispersion part γ _s ^d and polar part γ _s ^p suggested the surface tension of the blend gradually increased from 38.31 to 55.65 mJ/m² with the increase of PEG-20000 content.Wherein the dispersion part of the tension changed little, the polar part of the tension increased significantly from 5.74 to 20.41 mJ/m², indicating that the addition of PEG greatly enhanced the polar part of surface tension of the blend, and therefore evidently enlarged the hydrophilic property of the blends. Besides, to elucidate the related effecting mechanism, the crystallization and molecular interaction of the blends were also studied.     

Enhancement of thermal conductivity and tensile strength of liquid silicone rubber by three-dimensional alumina network

ABSTRACT

Rapidly increasing demands for higher integration density and stability of electronic devices embrace higher requirements for thermally conductive silicone rubber, which is promisingly used in ultra-thin components. In this work, alumina whiskers (AWs) and alumina flakes (AFs) are used to modify liquid silicone rubber (LSR) by fabricating binary (AFs/LSR) or ternary (AWs/AFs/LSR) composites. The thermal conductivity and mechanical strength of the binary and ternary composites were investigated. Thermal conductivity of the binary AFs/LSR composite (25AFs/LSR) was 0.1990 W m^?1 K^?1, while the thermal conductivity of the ternary AFs/AWs/LSR composite (20AFs/5AWs/LSR) was 0.2655 W m^?1 K^?1. Furthermore, the tensile strength of the ternary AWs/AFs/LSR composites increased by 180.9% as compared with the binary system, increased to 7.81 MPa from 2.78 MPa due to the introduction of 1 wt% AWs. As a reason, a significant synergistic effect of AWs and AFs in the enhancement of both thermal and mechanical properties of the LSR was proved. Furthermore, the dielectric property measurements demonstrated that the ternary composites exhibited a lower dielectric constant and dielectric loss, indicating that the AWs/AFs/LSR composites were qualified to be applied in the field of electronic devices.     

硅橡胶/氟橡胶并用胶的制备及力学性能

硅橡胶和氟橡胶作为国防、航天等重要领域的耐热材料一直被人们青睐,但其有着各自地优缺点且价格昂贵,本文尝试将这两种橡胶制成并用胶以解决氟橡胶不耐低温和加工性差的问题,以期增大其使用温度范围。采用机械共混法制备硅橡胶/氟橡胶并用胶,研究了硅橡胶和氟橡胶的混炼工艺、并用比、共硫化体系和硫化条件对并用胶力学性能的影响。结果表明,当硅橡胶/氟橡胶的质量比为10∶90,共硫化体系为3~#硫化剂/过氧化二异丙苯(DCP),一段硫化温度为170℃、硫化压力为10MPa、硫化时间为30min,二段硫化温度为200℃、硫化时间为6h时,并用胶的力学性能达到最好。     

Non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(trimethylene terephthalate)/poly(ethylene 2,6-naphthalate) blends

The glass-transition temperature and non-isothermal crystallization of poly(trimethylene terephthalate)/poly(ethylene 2,6-naphthalate) (PTT/PEN) blends were investigated by using differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The results suggested that the binary blends showed different crystallization and melting behaviors due to their different component of PTT and PEN. All of the samples exhibited a single glass-transition temperature, indicating that the component PTT and PEN were miscible in amorphous phase. The value of T_g predicted well by Gordon-Taylor equation decreased gradually with increasing of PTT content. The commonly used Avrami equation modified by Jeziorny, Ozawa theory and the method developed by Mo were used, respectively, to fit the primary stage of non-isothermal crystallization. The kinetic parameters suggested that the PTT content improved the crystallization of PEN in the binary blend. The crystallization growth dimension, crystallization rate and the degree of crystallinity of the blends were increased with the increasing content of PTT. The effective activation energy calculated by the advanced iso-conversional method developed by Vyazovkin also concluded that the value of E_a depended not only on the system but also on temperature, that is, the binary blend with more PTT component had higher crystallization ability and the crystallization ability is increased with increasing temperature. The kinetic parameters U^* and K_g were also determined, respectively, by the Hoffman-Lauritzen theory.     

Morphology and mechanical and viscoelastic properties of natural rubber and styrene butadiene rubber latex blends

The morphology and mechanical and viscoelastic properties of a series of blends of natural rubber (NR) and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) latex blends were studied in the uncrosslinked and crosslinked state. The morphology of the NR/SBR blends was analyzed using a scanning electron microscope. The morphology of the blends indicated a two phase structure in which SBR is dispersed as domains in the continuous NR matrix when its content is less than 50%. A cocontinuous morphology was obtained at a 50/50 NR/SBR ratio and phase inversion was seen beyond 50% SBR when NR formed the dispersed phase. The mechanical properties of the blends were studied with special reference to the effect of the blend ratio, surface active agents, vulcanizing system, and time for prevulcanization. As the NR content and time of prevulcanization increased, the mechanical properties such as the tensile strength, modulus, elongation at break, and hardness increased. This was due to the increased degree of crosslinking that leads to the strengthening of the 3‐dimensional network. In most cases the tear strength values increased as the prevulcanization time increased. The mechanical data were compared with theoretical predictions. The effects of the blend ratio and prevulcanization on the dynamic mechanical properties of the blends were investigated at different temperatures and frequencies. All the blends showed two distinct glass‐transition temperatures, indicating that the system is immiscible. It was also found that the glass‐transition temperatures of vulcanized blends are higher than those of unvulcanized blends. The time–temperature superposition and Cole–Cole analysis were made to understand the phase behavior of the blends. The tensile and tear fracture surfaces were examined by a scanning electron microscope to gain an insight into the failure mechanism. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 38: 2189–2211, 2000     

Blends of polycarbonate and ethylene-1-octylene copolymer

The mechanical properties and morphology of polycarbonate/ethylene-1-octylene copolymer (PC/POE) binary blends and PC/POE/ionomer ternary blends were investigated. The tensile strength and elongation at break of the PC/POE blends decreased with increasing the POE content. The impact strength of the PC/POE blends showed less dependence on thickness than that of PC. And the low-temperature impact strength of PC was modified effectively by addition of POE. The morphology of the PC/POE blends was observed by scanning electron microscope. The PC/POE weight ratio had a great effect on the morphology of the PC/POE blends. For the PC/POE (80/20)/ionomer ternary blends, low content (0.25 and 0.5 phr) of ionomer could increase the tensile properties of PC/POE (80/20) blend and had little effect on the impact strength. And 0.5 phr ionomer made the dispersed domain distribute more uniformly and finely than the blend without it. But with high content of ionomer, the degradation of PC made the mechanical properties of the blends deteriorate. Blending PC and ionomer proved the degradation of PC, and the molecular weight decreased with increasing the ionomer content.     

Various crystalline morphology of poly(butylene succinate-co-butylene adipate) in its miscible blends with poly(vinylidene fluoride)

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and poly(butylene succinate-co-butylene adipate) (PBSA) are crystalline/crystalline polymer blends with PVDF being the high-T(m) component and PBSA being the low-T(m) component, respectively. PVDF/PBSA blends are miscible as shown by the decrease of crystallization peak temperature and melting point temperature of each component with increasing the other component content and the homogeneous melt. The low-T(m) component PBSA presents various confined crystalline morphologies due to the presence of the high-T(m) component PVDF crystals by changing blend composition and crystallization conditions in the blends. There are mainly three different types of crystalline morphologies for PBSA in its miscible blends with PVDF. First, crystallization of PBSA commenced in the interspherulitic regions of the PVDF spherulites and continued to develop inside them in the case of PVDF-rich blends under two-step crystallization conditions. Second, PBSA spherulites appeared first in the left space after the complete crystallization of PVDF, contacted and penetrated the PVDF spherulites by forming interpenetrated spherulites in the case of PVDF-poor blends under two-step crystallization condition. Third, PBSA spherulites nucleated and continued to grow inside the PVDF spherulites that had already filled the whole space during the quenching process in the case of PBSA-rich blends under one-step crystallization condition. The conditions of forming the various crystalline morphologies were discussed.     

Nonisothermal crystallization and melting behavior of mPE/LLDPE/LDPE ternary blends

Nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of ternary blends of the metallocence polyethylene (mPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) were studied using DSC at various scanning rates. The Ozawa theory and a method developed by Mo were employed to describe the nonisothermal crystallization process of the two selected ternary blends. The results speak that Mo method is successful in describing the nonisothermal crystallization process of mPE/LLDPE/LDPE ternary blends, while Ozawa theory is not accurate to interpret the whole process of nonisothermal crystallization. Each ternary blend in this study shows different crystallization and melting behavior due to its different mPE content. The crystallinity of the ternary blends rises with increasing mPE content, and mPE improve the crystallization of the blends at low temperature. The crystallization activation energy of the five ternary blends that had been calculated from Vyazovkin method was increased with mPE content, indicating that the more mPE in the blends, the easier the nucleus or microcrystallites form at the primary stage of nonisothermal crystallization. LLDPE and mPE may form mixed crystals due to none separated-peaks were observed around the main melting or crystallization peak when the ternary blends were heating or cooling. The fixed small content of LDPE made little influence on the main crystallization behavior of the ternary blends and the crystallization behavior was mainly determined by the content of mPE and LLDPE.     

Ternary blends based on poly (ethylene-naphthalate)/glass fibers/nitrile rubber: Preparation,properties and effect of dynamic vulcanization

This work studied the possibility of utilizing nitrile rubber (NBR) to modify the impact properties of poly (ethylene-naphthalate) (PEN). The PEN/NBR ratio used changed from 100/0 to 60/40. At the same time, glass fibers (GF), 40% weight of the PEN component, were used to reinforce the blends to compensate for the loss of mechanical properties of PEN by incorporation of NBR. The results showed that the impact strength of the PEN/GF/NBR blend (PEN/NBR = 60/40) was increased up to 27.6J/m, nearly 5 times higher than that of the neat PEN. Meanwhile, the tensile strength and flexural strength were still maintained at as high as 66.1 MPa and 98.2 MPa, respectively. Dynamic vulcanization further improved the mechanical properties of the PEN/GF/NBR blends, which provided routes to the design of new PEN/elastomer blends. Other properties of the PEN/GF/NBR blends were also investigated in terms of morphology of fractured surface, dynamic mechanical behavior, thermal stability and crystallization, by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), respectively.     

Effect of chemical crosslinking on mechanical and electrical properties of ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene-carbon fiber blends prepared by gelation/crystallization from solutions

In an attempt to improve the mechanical property of polyethylene composite at high temperature, crosslinking of ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and carbon fiber (CF) blends was carried out by using dicumyl peroxide (DCP). The specimens were prepared by gelation/crystallization from solutions. The effect of chemical crosslinking on mechanical and electrical properties of UHMWPE/CF blends with composition of 1/0, 1/0.25, and 1/1 (w/w) were investigated in detail. Electrical conductivity and thermal mechanical properties of the blends with the 1/1 composition were greatly improved by incorporation of enough content of CF and adequate crosslinking network formation. Surprisingly, the Young’s modulus of the 1/1 blend reached 20 GPa at room temperature (20 °C). On the other hand, heat treatment at 135 °C played an important role for obtaining a high PTC effect for the UHMWPE-CF blend in which the PTC intensity reached 10⁷.     

Binary and ternary blends of high‐density polyethylene with poly(ethylene terephthalate) and polystyrene based on recycled materials

Binary blends of recycled high‐density polyethylene (R‐HDPE) with poly(ethylene terephthalate) (R‐PET) and recycled polystyrene (R‐PS), as well as the ternary blends, i.e. R‐HDPE/R‐PET/R‐PS, with varying amounts of the constituents were prepared by twin screw extruder. The mechanical, rheological, thermal, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses were utilized to characterize the samples. The results revealed that both R‐HDPE/R‐PET and R‐HDPE/R‐PS blends show phase inversion but at different compositions. The R‐PET was found to have much higher influence on the properties enhancement of the R‐HDPE compared to R‐PS, but at the phase inverted situation, a significant loss in the tensile strength of R‐HDPE/R‐PET blend was observed due to the weak interaction at this morphological state. However, the ternary blends with higher loading of second phase, namely greater than 50 wt% of R‐PET+R‐PS, demonstrated better mechanical properties than the binary blends with the same content of either R‐PET or R‐PS. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.