Dynamically Vulcanized Nitrile Butadiene Rubber/Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene Terpolymer Blends Compatibilized by Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene Block Copolymer

Abstract

Thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs) based on nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR)/ acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) blends were prepared by dynamic vulcanization, and then compatibilized by styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymer (SBS). The effects of SBS compatibilizer on mechanical properties, Mullins effect, and morphological properties of the TPVs were investigated systematically. Experimental results indicated that SBS had an excellent compatibilization effect on the dynamically vulcanized NBR/ABS TPVs. The tensile strength increased from 9.4 to 15.8 MPa and the elongation at break went through a maximum value when the dosage of SBS was only 1 phr. Mullins effect results showed that the compatibilized NBR/ABS TPV had relatively lower residual deformation and internal friction loss than the NBR/ABS TPV, indicating the improvement of elasticity. Morphology studies showed that the vulcanized NBR particles were dispersed evenly in the TPVs and the dimensions of NBR particles were decreased remarkably with the incorporation of SBS compatibilizer.