ABSTRACT:
Polymer blends represent a field of intensive research. In the present work, different rubber blends based on nitrile butadiene rubber, NBR (N3980 – 39% acrylonitrile) have been selected to get a product with high oil resistance and good mechanical properties. The ratio of each component (NBR and chloroprene rubber CR) in NBR – CR blends has been varied and the corresponding vulcanizing systems have been carefully selected.
The rheological properties of the different blends obtained were evaluated. For instance, the scorch time, optimum time of vulcanization have been determined and correlated with the blends composition. The mechanical properties, swelling in toluene and different oils have been evaluated using standard techniques. Besides, the effects of different vulcanizing systems on the mechanical properties and degree of swelling of the vulcanized blends in toluene, as well as the resistance of the blends to the oils has been evaluated.
It has been found that the type of rubber and the composition of blends clearly affect their resistance to oils. In contrast, the type of crosslinking and crosslinking density slightly affect the oil resistance of the corresponding vulcanizates.