Chlorosulfonated polyethylene–polypropylene thermoplastic vulcanizate: Mechanical, morphological, thermal, and rheological properties

Abstract

Abstract Different thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) blends were prepared from elastomeric chlorosulfonated polyethylene (CSM) and thermoplastic polypropylene (PP) by employing dynamic vulcanization technique. The mechanical properties of such blends were compared in respect of their stress at 25% modulus (25%M), ultimate tensile strength (UTS), percent elongation at break, and hardness to those of pure CSM. The mechanical analysis showed substantial improvement in stress at 25%M , UTS, and hardness values with the incorporation of 15–40 parts of thermoplastic contents (PP) (per hundred parts of blend). The two‐phase morphologies were clearly observed by scanning electron microscopy studies. The thermal properties were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). DSC studies showed a decreasing trend in glass transition temperature ( T g ) and TGA studies indicated the increase in thermal stability of all TPV blends with respect to the elastomeric CSM. Rheological studies showed that there is an increasing trend in shear melt viscosity of TPV blends with the increase in PP amount as the higher content of isotactic PP used in the present case increases the melt viscosity. The TPVs obtained after the rheotron studies displayed identical shear stress/strain pattern when further subjected to the same study. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013