| Abstract: | The structure and properties of dynamically cured ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymer (EPDM) and ionomer blends have been studied. The blends were prepared in a laboratory internal mixer, where EPDM was cured under shear in the presence of ionomer with dicumyl peroxide (DCP) under different shear conditions. The effects of EPDM/ionomer compositions, DCP concentration and the intensity of shear mixing were investigated using capillary rheometer, differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. Two kinds of poly(ethylene-co-methacrylic acid) ionomers containing different metal ions(Na+ and Zn++) were compared and the effect of the metal ion type for neutralization was considered. The Zn-neutralized ionomer showed better miscibility with EPDM than the Na-neutralized ionomer. It is concluded from the rheological properties, crystallization behavior and morphology that the dynamically cured EPDM and Zn-ion ionomer blends show the behavior of a thermoplastic interpenetrating polymer network (IPN). |
