Viscoelastic Properties of Silica-Filled Natural Rubber and Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate Copolymer Blend

Abstract

Abstract The viscoelastic properties such as storage modulus (E′), loss modulus (E”) and damping (tan δ) of unfilled and silica-filled blends of natural rubber (NR) and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) have been evaluated. The blends were crosslinked by a mixed system consisting of accelerated sulfur and peroxide. The tan δ values of unfilled blends showed two transitions corresponding to EVA and NR phases. This indicated that the blends are immiscible. The damping curves of EVA and EVA-rich blends possess three distinct regions: a rubbery plateau, a melt transition, and a viscous plateau. It is seen that the addition of silica decreased the tan δ values of the samples substantially except that of NR, where a slight increase in tan δ values can be observed at high temperatures. The sharp decrease in tan δ in filled EVA and EVA-rich blends is associated with the decrease in crystallinity of the EVA phase due to the presence of filler. Addition of silica filler increased the storage and loss modulus o...