The Effects of Trans-Polyoctylene Rubber (TOR) on the Cure Characteristics and Swelling Behaviour of Activated Carbon Filled Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) Vulcanizates

Abstract

Compatibilizer is one of the processing aids used for rubber compounding which helps the incorporation of filler in rubber. In this study, the effect of trans-polyoctylene rubber (TOR) as compatibilizer on the cure characteristics and swelling behaviour of activated carbon filled styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) vulcanizates were studied as a function of TOR loading. Both uncompatibilized and compatibilized SBR vulcanizates with different TOR loading (2, 4, 6 and 8 phr) were prepared using two-rolls mill at room temperature. It was observed that the cure time (tc90) of compatibilized SBR vulcanizates was shorter than that of the uncompatibilized SBR vulcanizate and decreased with increasing of TOR loading up to 6 phr. The minimum torque (ML) of the uncompatibilized SBR vulcanizate was lower compared to the compatibilized vulcanizates. In contrast, the uncompatibilized SBR vulcanizate has higher maximum torque (MH) compared to the compatibilized SBR vulcanizates. As the TOR contents increased, the ML increased but MH gradually decreased. It was also reported that the value of cure rate index (CRI) of the compatibilized SBR vulcanizates increased with the increment in addition of TOR. The result also showed that the compatibilized SBR vulcanizates had lower crosslink density than that of the uncompatibilized SBR vulcanizate and slightly decreased with increasing TOR loading.