Effect of hot air aging on the properties of ethylene‐vinyl acetate copolymer and ethylene‐acrylic acid copolymer blends

Abstract

AbstractThe aim of this investigation is to evaluate the effect of hot air aging on properties of ethylene‐vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA, 14 wt % vinyl acetate units), ethylene‐acrylic acid copolymer (EAA, 8 wt % acrylic acid units), and their blends. Attenuated total reflection‐Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), wide angle X‐ray diffraction, and mechanical tests are employed to investigate the changes of copolymer blends' structures and properties. Increase of carbonyl index derived from ATR measurements with aging time suggests the incorporation of oxygen into the polymeric chain. By DSC measurements, the enthalpy at low temperature endothermic peak (Tm2) of EAA becomes less and disappears after 8 weeks aging, but enthalpy at Tm2 of EVA is not influenced by the hot air aging and remains stable despite of the aging time. For various proportions of EAA and EVA blends, enthalpy at Tm2 decreases as the EAA proportion increases when aging time is 8 weeks; after several weeks of hot air aging, the various blends appear a same new peak just over the aging temperature 70°C which is due to the completion of crystals which are not of thermodynamic equilibrium state. Mechanical tests show that increase of crystallinity and hot air aging deterioration both have influence on the hardness, tensile strength, and elongation at break. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009