Improvement in Adhesion between Ethylene–Propylene–Diene Terpolymer (EPDM)-based Elastomer and Polyurethane Coating Using Epoxy–Polysulfide Copolymer As Adhesion Promoter

Abstract

Epoxy–polysulfide copolymer as an adhesion promoter was added to ethylene–propylene–diene terpolymer and the effect of maleation of terpolymer with maleic anhydride on its adhesion to polyurethane coating was studied. The results show that using epoxy-polysulfide copolymer as the adhesion promoter cause a significant improvement in adhesion of terpolymer to polyurethane coating. The contact angle of the water reduced from 88° for the unmodified terpolymer to 65° for the maleated terpolymer containing 10 phr of epoxy–polysulfide copolymer. Peel strength was also increased from 0.2 N/mm for the unmodified terpolymer to 1.12 N/mm for the above-mentioned modified elastomer. Effect of the composition of the polymer blends on the loss tangent and storage modulus was studied to evaluate phase separation and crosslink density. The improvement of adhesion to polyurethane occurred without phase separation, which was further confirmed by the results of the mechanical and morphological investigations.