Influence of the processing conditions on a two‐phase reactive blend system: EVA/PP thermoplastic vulcanizate

Abstract

AbstractThe elaboration of a TPV based on copolymer of ethylene and vinyl acetate (EVA) and polypropylene (PP) as thermoplastic phase was investigated in a batch mixer. The crosslinking reaction is carried out through a transesterification reaction between ester groups of EVA and alcoxysilane groups of the crosslinker agent tetrapropoxyorthosilicate (TPOS). The main advantage of this crosslinking reaction is that it can be well controlled and suitable for different processing conditions. The aim of the present study is to get a better understanding of the dispersion mechanism and of the phase inversion of the EVA major phase during its dynamic vulcanization into the PP minor phase. It was proved that the initial viscosity ratio, λ = ηpp/ηEVA, between EVA and PP plays an important part in the morphology development of the reactive blend. The viscosity ratio must be close to the critical ratio expressed by Utracki's model of phase inversion mechanism. Furthermore, the influence of different processing parameters on the variation of the morphology and on the mechanical properties of the ultimate TPV was investigated. The main conclusion of this study is that the characteristic time of crosslinking must be of the same order than the time of mixing. Indeed, better mechanical properties are obtained when a progressive phase inversion occurred and when it is controlled by rheological aspects and transient morphology equilibrium of the two phases and not by the mechanical fragmentation of the crosslinked EVA. For example, in our experimental conditions (concerning the amounts of catalyst and crosslinker reagents), high shear rates can be avoided (\documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ {\rm \dot \gamma} $\end{document} < 80 s−1) as the self‐heating of the blend under shear considerably increases (ΔT ≈ 50°C for \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ {\rm \dot \gamma} $\end{document} = 225 s−1), leading to faster kinetics and consequently to a phase inversion controlled by the fragmentation of the crosslinked EVA phase.