Ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymer mechanical properties

Polymer International 51,No.7, July 2002, p.601-6 PHYSICAL STUDIES OF FOAMED REINFORCED RUBBER COMPOSITES. PART I. MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF FOAMED ETHYLENE-PROPYLENE-DIENE TERPOLYMER AND NITRILE-BUTADIENE RUBBER COMPOSITES... 

The mechanical properties of polymer nanocomposites are also influenced by the chemical treatment of nanoparticles due to the different neighborhood in the material. The free volume that characterizes the density of material is modified and, consequently, the penetration of fluids (solvents, oxygen) is rather favorable to degradation. The diffusion of xylene in ethylene-propylene diene terpolymer is unlike, if material presents different consistency (Fig. 14, [191]). The competitive radiochemical processes, crosslinking of polymer and degradation of covering layer are the most important reasons responsible for the different shapes of swelling curves. 

Schaefer et al. (19) studied the interphase microstructure of ternary polymer composites consisting of polypropylene, ethylene-propylene-diene-terpolymer (EPDM), and different types of inorganic fillers (e.g., kaolin clay and barium sulfate). They used extraction and dynamic mechanical methods to relate the thickness of absorbed polymer coatings on filler particles to mechanical properties. The extraction of composite samples with xylene solvent for prolonged periods of time indicated that the bound polymer around filler particles increased from 3 to 12 nm thick between kaolin to barium sulfate filler types. Solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) analyses of the bound polymer layers indicated that EPDM was the main constituent adsorbed to the filler particles. Without doubt, the existence of an interphase microstructure was shown to exist and have a rather sizable thickness. They proceeded to use this interphase model to fit a modified van der Poel equation to compute the storage modulus G (T) and loss modulus G"(T) properties. 

Dynamic mechanical analysis has also been used to determine the mechanical and thermal properties of low-density polyethylene and ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymer containing jute filler, which had improved flexural and impact properties compared to those of the base polymer [198]. Jeong and coworkers [196] and others [195] investigated the dynamic mechanical properties of a series of polyhexamethyl-ene lerephthalale, poly(l,4-cyclohexylenedimethylene terephthalate), and random copolymers thereof in the amorphous state as a function of temperature and frequency. The effect of copolymer composition on dynamic mechanical properties was examined and the dynamic mechanical properties interpreted in terms of the cooperativity of segmental motions. 

Another widely used approach is the in situ polymerization of an intractable polymer such as polypyrrole onto a polymer matrix with some degree of processibil-ity. Bjorklund [30] reported the formation of polypyrrole on methylcellulose and studied the kinetics of the in situ polymerization. Likewise, Gregory et al. [31] reported that conductive fabrics can be prepared by the in situ polymerization of either pyrrole or aniline onto textile substrates. The fabrics obtained by this process maintain the mechanical properties of the substrate and have reasonable surface conductivities. In situ polymerization of acetylene within swollen matrices such as polyethylene, polybutadiene, block copolymers of styrene and diene, and ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymers have also been investigated [32,33]. For example, when a stretched polyacetylene-polybutadiene composite prepared by this approach was iodine-doped, it had a conductivity of around 575 S/cm and excellent environmental stability due to the encapsulation of the ICP [34]. Likewise, composites of polypyrrole and polythiophene prepared by in situ polymerization in matrices such as poly(vinyl chloride), poly(vinyl alcohol), poly(vinylidine chloride-( o-trifluoroethylene), and brominated poly(vi-nyl carbazole) have also been reported. The conductivity of these composites can reach up to 60 S/cm when they are doped with appropriate species [10]. 

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