Elastomer blends glass transition temperature

Tackifying resins enhance the adhesion of non-polar elastomers by improving wettability, increasing polarity and altering the viscoelastic properties. Dahlquist [31 ] established the first evidence of the modification of the viscoelastic properties of an elastomer by adding resins, and demonstrated that the performance of pressure-sensitive adhesives was related to the creep compliance. Later, Aubrey and Sherriff [32] demonstrated that a relationship between peel strength and viscoelasticity in natural rubber-low molecular resins blends existed. Class and Chu [33] used the dynamic mechanical measurements to demonstrate that compatible resins with an elastomer produced a decrease in the elastic modulus at room temperature and an increase in the tan <5 peak (which indicated the glass transition temperature of the resin-elastomer blend). Resins which are incompatible with an elastomer caused an increase in the elastic modulus at room temperature and showed two distinct maxima in the tan <5 curve. 

Glass transition temperature (Tg), measured by means of dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) of E-plastomers has been measured in binary blends of iPP and E-plastomer. These studies indicate some depression in the Tg in the binary, but incompatible, blends compared to the Tg of the corresponding neat E-plastomer. This is attributed to thermally induced internal stress resulting from differential volume contraction of the two phases during cooling from the melt. The temperature dependence of the specific volume of the blend components was determined by PVT measurement of temperatures between 30°C and 270°C and extrapolated to the elastomer Tg at —50°C. 

The all-important difference between the friction properties of elastomers and hard solids is its strong dependence on temperature and speed, demonstrating that these materials are not only elastic, but also have a strong viscous component. Both these aspects are important to achieve a high friction capability. The most obvious effect is that temperature and speed are related through the so-called WLF transformation. For simple systems with a well-defined glass transition temperature the transform is obeyed very accurately. Even for complex polymer blends the transform dominates the behavior deviations are quite small. 

Elastomers are cross-linked macromolecules above the glass-transition temperature. They are entropy elastic and free of viscous flow. For most applications, the rubber is blended with filler material such as silicates and carbon black before vulcanization. Carbon black is an active filler which introduces physical cross-links of macromolecular chains in addition to the chemical cross-links formed during the vulcanization process. The chemical cross-link density is temperature independent, while the strength of the physical cross-links varies with temperature. 

The change of glass transition temperature of an elastomer is an important characteristic of elastomer blends. Above the Tg, the kinetic forces are stronger... 

In the case of poly(ester urethanes), HER and HQEE extended elastomers showed comparable tensile, tear, glass transition temperature (T ) and hysteresis (tan 8) properties. Compared to HER, HQEE extension produced elastomer with about 2 Shore-D units higher hardness. An improvement in the tensile strength value was observed for the HER/HQEE blend at 25 75 weight ratio. In general, all the physical and mechanical properties were slightly affected or lowered with HER/HQEE blends compared to either HER or HQEE extended material. 

The compatibility of two elastomers can generally be predicted from solubility parameter differences (Table 35-4). If the solubility parameter differences exceed about 0.7, then, two glass transition temperatures are observed and the mixture consists of two phases. Single-phase blends with only one glass transition temperature only occur when the solubility parameters do not differ by more than 0.7. 

The principal effect of miscibility of elastomer blends of dissimilar elastomers is alteration of the glass-transition temperature. Since miscible blends should have negligible changes in the conformation of the polymer chains, the entanglement density of miscible blends should be a compositionally weighted average of entanglement density of the pure components. 

Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) is a well-known hydrophobic polymer with higher repellency for water than PS crosslinked siUcone elastomers (WCA = 112° for a smooth film) are commonly used for fabricating microfluidic devices. But forming solid fibers comprised solely of linear PDMS is not possible, due to its low glass transition temperature. Instead of using linear homopolymer PDMS, Ma et al. [21] electrospun fibers of poly(styrene-b-dimethylsiloxane) block copolymers blended with 23.4 wt% homopolymer polystyrene (PS-PDMS/PS) from a solution in a mixed solvent of THF and DMF. The resultant fiber mat, with fiber diameters in the range of 150-400 nm, exhibited a WCA of 163° and a hysteresis of 15°. An illustration of water droplets beaded up on such a mat is provided in Fig. 3. A PS mat of similar fiber diameter and porosity exhibited a WCA of only 138°. The difference was attributed to the lower surface tension of the PDMS component, combined with its spontaneous segregation to the fiber surface. X-ray photoelec-... 

Before reviewing in detail the fundamental aspects of elastomer blends, it would be appropriate to first review the basic principles of polymer science. Polymers fall into three basic classes plastics, fibers, and elastomers. Elastomers are generally unsaturated (though can be saturated as in the case of ethylene-propylene copolymers or polyisobutylene) and operate above their glass transition temperature (Tg). The International Institute of Synthetic Rubber Producers has prepared a list of abbreviations for all elastomers [3], For example, BR denotes polybutadiene, IRis synthetic polyisoprene, and NBR is acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (Table 4.1). There are also several definitions that merit discussion. The glass transition temperature (Tg) defines the temperature at which an elastomer undergoes a transition from a rubbery to a glassy state at the molecular level. This transition is due to a cessation of molecular motion as temperature drops. An increase in the Tg, also known as the second-order transition temperature, leads to an increase in compound hysteretic properties, and in tires to an improvement in tire traction... 

Polymer blends are a mixture of at least two polymers, their combination being supposed to lead to new materials with different properties. The classification of polymer blends into (1) immiscible polymer blends, (2) compatible polymer blends, and (3) miscible polymer blends is given by the thermodynamic properties of the resulting compound by means of the number of glass transition temperatures observed for the final product. To improve the compatibility between the blended polymers, some additives or fillers are used. To the same extent, rubber blends are mixtures of elastomers, which are usually combined to obtain an improved product, with properties derived from each individual component. 

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