Mechanical properties styrene-butadiene rubber

Butadiene copolymers are mainly prepared to yield mbbers (see Styrene-butadiene rubber). Many commercially significant latex paints are based on styrene—butadiene copolymers (see Coatings Paint). In latex paint the weight ratio S B is usually 60 40 with high conversion. Most of the block copolymers prepared by anionic catalysts, eg, butyUithium, are also elastomers. However, some of these block copolymers are thermoplastic mbbers, which behave like cross-linked mbbers at room temperature but show regular thermoplastic flow at elevated temperatures (45,46). Diblock (styrene—butadiene (SB)) and triblock (styrene—butadiene—styrene (SBS)) copolymers are commercially available. Typically, they are blended with PS to achieve a desirable property, eg, improved clarity/flexibiHty (see Polymerblends) (46). These block copolymers represent a class of new and interesting polymeric materials (47,48). Of particular interest are their morphologies (49—52), solution properties (53,54), and mechanical behavior (55,56). 

FIGURE 2.10 Variation in mechanical properties with styrene content in styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR)-based nanocomposites. 

Testing of the mechanical properties revealed that the nano-powdered styrene/butadiene rubber is effective in toughening PS (6). 

Mixing process Technical rubbers are blends of up to about 30 different compounds like natural rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, silicate and carbon-black fillers, and mobile components like oils and waxes. These components show a large variety of physical, chemical, and NMR properties. Improper mixing leads to inhomogeneties in the final product with corresponding variations in mechanical and thermal properties (cf. Figure 7.4). 

The major general purpose rubbers are natural rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, butadiene rubber, isoprene rubber, and ethylene-propylene rubber. These rubbers are used in tires, mechanical goods, and similar applications. Specialty elastomers provide unique properties such as oil resistance or extreme heat stability. Although this differentiation is rather arbitrary, it tends also to classify the polymers according to volumes used. Styrene-butadiene rubber, butadiene rubber, and ethylene-propylene rubber account for 78 percent of all synthetic rubber consumed. 

Table 2.2. Mechanical properties of butadiene styrene rubber nanocomposites with halloysite nanotubes...

Technology for preparing nanocomposites directly via compounding has been investigated by Vaia, Ishii, and Giannelis. Industrial R D efforts have focused on process technology (e.g., melt or monomer exfoliation processes), as there are a number of polymers (e.g., polyolefins) that do not lend themselves to a monomer process. Nanocomposites with a variety of polymers, including polyacrylates or methacrylates, polystyrene, styrene-butadiene rubber, epoxy, polyester, and polyurethane, are amenable to the monomer process. The enhancement of mechanical properties, gas permeability resistance, and heat endurance are the primary objectives for the application of PCN, and their success will establish PCNs as a major commercial product. 

Styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) is a random polymer made from butadiene and styrene monomers. It possesses good mechanical property, processing behavior, and can be used like natural rubber. Moreover, some properties such as wear and heat resistance, aging, and curing property are even better than in natural rubber. Styrene-butadiene rubber was the first major synthetic rubber to be produced commercially. Now it has become the most common rubber with the largest production and consumption in the synthetic rubber industry. It can be widely used in tire, adhesive tape, cables, medical instruments, and all kinds of rubberware. 

Varkey, J.T. Augustine, S. Groeninckx, G. Bhagawan, S.S. Rao, S.S. Thomas, S. Morphology and mechanical and viscoelastic properties of natural rubber and styrene butadiene rubber latex blends. J. Polym. Sci. B Polym. Phys. 2000,38 (16), 2189-2211. 

Ismail, H. Suzaimah, S. Hairunezam, H.M. Curing characteristics, mechanical properties and oil resistance of styrene butadiene rubber/epoxidized natural rubber blends. J. Elastomers Plast. 2002, 34 (2), 119-130. 

Sanchez-Solis, A. Estrada, M.R. Cruz, J. Manero, O. On the properties and processing of polyethylene terephthalate/styrene-butadiene rubber blend. Polym. Eng. Sci. 2000,40 (5), 1216-1225. Luzinov, I. Xi, K. Pagnoulle, C. Huynh-Ba, G. Jerome, R. Composition effect on the core-shell morphology and mechanical properties of ternary polystyrene/styrene butadiene rubber polyethylene blends. Polymer 1999, 40 (10), 2511-2520. 

Improvement of Mechanical Properties. The most important application of SAS, and one of the oldest, is the control of the mechanical properties of rubber. SAS are important additives for both styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and natural rubber (NR), second in importance only to carbon black (51, 52). Figure 5 demonstrates the increase in tensile strength at room temperature for silicone rubber with various reinforcing fillers and kieselguhr. An improvement is also brought about in the mechanical strength of fluoroelastomers and other special kinds of rubber (51). Table VI summarizes the improvements that may be achieved in other fields. 

The industrial uses of tellurium are limited. In metallurgy, tellurium is used as an additive to improve alloys. The addition of tellurium improves the creep strength of tin and the mechanical properties of lead. Powdered tellurium is used as a secondary vulcanizing agent in various types of rubbers (natural rubber and styrene-butadiene rubbers) as it reduces the time of curing and endows the rubbers with increased resistance to heat and abrasion. In addition, tellurium and its compounds have been used as oxidation catalysts in organic syntheses. Due to its photoelectric properties, tellurium and its compounds are also employed in the semiconductor and electronics industry. In much smaller quantities, tellurium is used in pottery glazes. For further details, see Fishbein (1991). 

The fatigue of NR and styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) is an enormous industrial problem, as important mechanical properties of these materials deteriorate quickly when stressed. Although fatigue may describe the deterioration of certain material properties, it is generally believed that the term also describes failure... 

Stretching (GR-S, the co-polymer of butadiene and styrene) have a low strength unless they are mixed with carbon black. Obviously, the snapping of the chain molecules into the lattice is necessary to make the chains cohere sufficiently. On the other hand, the percentage of crystallites should not be too large, otherwise the material becomes hard and loses its rubbery properties. Polyethylene, which in the unstretched condition is from 55 to 75% crystalline, surpasses the tolerable limit. The fair average seems to be about 30%, which can be concluded from the unique mechanical properties of natural rubber, which crystallises to this extent on stretching. 

Addition of fillers can dramatically change mechanical properties of elastomer materials. For example, a pure gum vulcanizate of general purpose styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) has a tensile strength of no more then 2.2 MPa but, by mixing in 50 parts per hundred weight parts of rubber (p.p.h.r) of a active CB, this value rises more than 10 times to 25 MPa. How CB, being fine powder of practically no mechanical strength, can make reinforcement in rubbers, similar to... 

The fourth and fifth papers have to do with properties of pressure-sensitive adhesives. In particular, the matter of how the materials composing pressure-sensitive adhesives (rubbers and resins) interact and phase separate to produce the phenomenon of tack or pressure-sensitivity is addressed. Both studies use dynamic mechanical measurements to uncover phasing - one in a silicone and the other in natural and styrene-butadiene rubber systems tackified with various resins. 

Zhang et al. [63] prepared styrene-butadiene nanocomposites by dispersing an aqueous dispersion of montmoril-lonite and latex and flocculating the dispersion with acid. The performance of the rubber nanocomposites were compared with clay, carbon black, and silica rubber composites prepared by standard compotmding methods. The montmoriUonite loadings for the rubber nanocomposite were up to 60 phr. The morphology of the rubber nanocomposites by transmission electron microscopy appears to indicate intercalated structures. The mechanical properties of the rubber nanocomposites were superior to all of the other additives up to about 30 phr. However, rebound resistance was inferior to all of the additives except sUica. The state of cure was not evaluated. 

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