Chlorosulfonated polyethylene rubber blends

Natural rubber/chlorosulfonated polyethylene rubber blends also exhibited immiscibility. Chlorosulfonated polyethylene rubber is the synthetic rubber used for applications in electric cables, hoses for liquid chemicals, waterproof cloths, floor tiles, and oil-resistant seals. It is chosen to blend with natural rubber to improve the resistance of natural rubber to ozone, oil, heat, flame and non-polar chemicals. This is due to the effect of the polarity of the chlorine groups in the chlorosulfonated polyethylene rubber. The tensile strength, elongation at break, and tear strength of these blends decreased with the increasing chlorosulfonated polyethylene rubber contents. In addition, the compatible natural rubber/chlorosulfonated polyethylene rubber blends were improved by adding the epoxidized natural rubber (Epoxyprene 25) as a... 

As a consequence, before 1953, the only possible blends were those of LDPE with other polymers than PO or with elastomers (e.g., chlorosulfonated polyethylene rubber, CSR chlorinated butyl mbber, CBR ethylene/propylene/diene copolymers, EPR, EPDM thermoplastic olefinic elastomer TPE, TPO). However, in addition to the original autoclave polymerization, already in 1938, a tubular reactor was introduced and its product had different properties than that from the autoclave. Also varying the reaction condition affected the degree of short- and long-chain branching in LDPE thus, blending different LDPEs offered a way for optimizing the resin to specific applications. 

The natural rubber does not generally exhibit all the desired properties for use in the rubber industry. Thus, it is possible to obtain better mechanical and physical properties at a lower cost by blending natural rubber with synthetic rubbers. Normally, natural rubber is deteriorated by ozone and thermal attacks due to its highly unsaturated backbone, and it also shows low oil and chemical resistances due to its non-polarity. However, these properties can be achieved by blending it with low unsaturated ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber, styrene butadiene rubber, carboxylate styrene butadiene rubber, nitrile butadiene rubber, chloroprene rubber, chlorosulfonated polyethylene rubber, and acrylonitrile butadiene rubber. 

Rubber blends with cure rate mismatch is a burning issue for elastomer sandwich products. For example, in a conveyor belt composite structure there is always a combination of two to three special purpose rubbers and, depending on the rubber composition, the curatives are different. Hence, those composite rubber formulations need special processing and formulation to avoid a gross dissimilarity in their cure rate. Recent research in this area indicated that the modification of one or more rubbers with the same cure sites would be a possible solution. Thus, chlorosulfonated polyethylene (CSP) rubber was modified in laboratory scale with 10 wt% of 93% active meta-phenylene bismaleimide (BMI) and 0.5 wt% of dimethyl-di-(/ r/-butyl-peroxy) hexane (catalyst). Mixing was carried out in an oil heated Banbury-type mixer at 150-160°C. The addition of a catalyst was very critical. After 2 min high-shear dispersive melt mix-... 

Low-density polyethylene, 5-120 parts LDPE, was blended with chlorosulfonated polyethylene, 100 parts CSR, with or without curing agent (tribasic lead maleate). The blends found were used as smooth, non-tacky, tough films or coatings for natural or synthetic rubbers ... 

Other patents include Ternary Blend of Polyisoprene, Epoxidized Natural Rubber and Chlorosulfonated Polyethylene to Goodyear Tire Rubber, U.S. Patent 5,736,593, April 7, 1998, and Truck Tire With Cap/Base Construction Tread to Goodyear Tire Rubber, U.S. Patent... 

Graft polymers were obtained by mastication of a 60/40 blend of natural rubber and chlorosulfonated polyethylene [69]. From 10 to 55% natural rubber was obtained as side chains. Grafting probably occurs by transfer of chlorine atoms to the rubber radicals to give grafting sites for combination with rubber radicals. Soluble linear polymers were also obtained by mastication for 50-180 min under nitrogen for a blend 50/50 of natural rubber and a polyurethane rubber (Vulcaprene A) [69]. 

Based on the miscibility of PVC with PEE, the blending of PEE with polar rubbers, such as NBR, chlorinated polyethylene (CPE), and chlorosulfonated polyethylene (CSM) attracted research interest. Recall that PVC/NBR blends are fully miscible, similar to PVC/PEE ones. Therefore, it was intuitive to check the compatibility between PEE and NBR in uncured state [17,108]. The interest behind CPE/PEE and CSM/PEE blends was due to the supposed dipole interactions between the components yielding good compatibility [17,109]. 

When two polymers interact or react with each other, they are likely to provide a compatible, even a miscible, blend. Epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) interacts with chloro-sulfonated polyethylene (Hypalon) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) forming partially miscible and miscible blends, respectively, due to the reaction between chlorosulfonic acid group and chlorine with epoxy group of ENR. Chiu et al. have studied the blends of chlorinated polyethylene (CR) with ENR at blend ratios of 75 25, 50 50, and 25 75, as well as pure rubbers using sulfur (Sg), 2-mercapto-benzothiazole, and 2-benzothiazole disulfide as vulcanizing agents [32]. They have studied Mooney viscosity, scorch... 

FTIR spectroscopy has been applied in the study of polymer blends including Neoprene rubber, chlorosulfonated PE, nitrile rubber, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) containing carbon black and other fillers [86], Nylon 6 inorganic [87], polyhydroxyether sulfone/poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) [88], graphite-based low-density polyethylene [89], caprolactone/Nafion blends [90], polybutylene terephthalate/polyamide [91], polyphenylene sulfide/acrylonitrile - butadiene - styrene [92], PMMA/polypyrrol [93], and lower or high performance liquid chromatography (LDPE/HDPE) [94]. 

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