Blends of Acrylonitrile rubber with Maleic anhydride grafted Whole Tyre
Reclaim WTR (MA-g-WTR) have been prepared and the cure and mechanical
properties have been studied with respect to reclaim content. Control
compounds containing unmodified WTR were also prepared for comparison.
Grafting was confirmed by IR studies. Blends containing grafted WTR showed
higher minimum torque and (max-min) torque. They also showed longer cure
time, scorch time and lower cure rate. Grafting of the WTR with maleic
anhydride also resulted in the improved tensile strength, abrasion resistance,
compression set and resilience. However, the heat build up under dynamic
loading was marginally higher for the blends containing grafted reclaimed
rubber.
Mechanical properties and thermal degradation characteristics of natural rubber compounds
captaining coconut oil were compared with that of a control compound containing naphthenic oil.
Cure time was marginally lower in the case of coconut oil mixes, probably due to the presence of
free fatty acids. Tensile strength , tear strength, resilience and abrasion resistance were better than
the naphthenic oil-based compounds . Compression set and hardness were marginally inferior
The coconut oil mixes had a crosslink density comparable to that of the reference compound.
Thermal studies showed that the temperature of initiation of degradation was increased by 10°C
and the temperature at which the peak rate of degradation occured was increased by 7°C. The
peak rate of degradation was compa rable to the control compound.