Thermal analysis on influence of compatibilizing agents

Studies have been made on differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) of binary blends of isobutylene-isoprene (IIR) copolymer and polychloroprene (CR) elastomers. Blends of IIR and CR are incompatible and showed separateT _g peaks in DSC curves similar to Tanδ peaks. However, addition of chlorinated polyethylene (CM) elastomer, as compatibilizer, imparts miscibility between IIR and CR which could be judged both through DSC as well as by dynamic loss measurements (Loss modulusE″ and Tanδ). The storage modulus (E′) showed variation of stiffness due to structural changes associated with the addition of compatibilizer. TG plots for these blends showed improvement of thermal stability both by addition of a suitable compatibilizer as well as due to formation of crosslinked structures associated with the vulcanization of the blends by standard curative package.