Ethylene vinyl acetate as a multifunctional compatibilizer for natural rubber/cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber blends with enhanced compatibility, filler dispersion and mechanical properties

Abstract The blending of natural rubber (NR) with cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber (BR) has gained widespread attention due to its potential in enhancing the low temperature resistance and abrasion resistance of NR. However, the incompatibility between NR and BR as well as the non-uniform distribution o...

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Main Authors: Jiyu Liang, Jianhui Wu, Chunhua Wang, Jun Sang, Keshuai Ren, To Ngai, Wei Lin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2025-02-01
Series:Collagen and Leather
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s42825-024-00181-7
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author Jiyu Liang
Jianhui Wu
Chunhua Wang
Jun Sang
Keshuai Ren
To Ngai
Wei Lin
author_facet Jiyu Liang
Jianhui Wu
Chunhua Wang
Jun Sang
Keshuai Ren
To Ngai
Wei Lin
author_sort Jiyu Liang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The blending of natural rubber (NR) with cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber (BR) has gained widespread attention due to its potential in enhancing the low temperature resistance and abrasion resistance of NR. However, the incompatibility between NR and BR as well as the non-uniform distribution of fillers often have an adverse impact on the mechanical properties. Herein, we propose a facile approach to modulate the multi-scale structures in NR/BR blends including polymer compatibility and filler distribution by introducing ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) with varying vinyl acetate (VA) content as multifunctional compatibilizers. The results indicate that the cure characteristics (i.e., processability) and mechanical properties of NR/BR blends can be readily tailored through adjustment of the VA content in EVA. When the VA content in EVA is increased to 18% (EVA-18), the NR/BR blends simultaneously exhibit favorable processability and mechanical properties. The microstructural analysis demonstrates that the introduction of EVA-18 not only enhances the compatibility between NR and BR with significantly reduced domain size, but also improves fillers dispersion in the rubber matrix. The presence of EVA-18 at concentrations up to 20 parts per hundred of rubber (phr) in NR/BR vulcanizates improves the mechanical properties by approximately 24% compared to un-compatibilized NR/BR vulcanizates, which is superior to the most present studies. This work will be beneficial for the development of NR/BR blends in the industry and provide a guideline for designing efficient compatibilizers for other immiscible rubber blends. Graphical abstract
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institution Kabale University
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series Collagen and Leather
spelling doaj-art-2298d53a6c9345d884a7a3601aae4b422025-02-02T12:42:31ZengSpringerOpenCollagen and Leather2097-14192731-69982025-02-017111410.1186/s42825-024-00181-7Ethylene vinyl acetate as a multifunctional compatibilizer for natural rubber/cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber blends with enhanced compatibility, filler dispersion and mechanical propertiesJiyu Liang0Jianhui Wu1Chunhua Wang2Jun Sang3Keshuai Ren4To Ngai5Wei Lin6Department of Biomass and Leather Engineering, Key Laboratory of Leather Chemistry and Engineering of Ministry of Education, Sichuan UniversityNational Engineering Laboratory for Clean Technology of Leather Manufacture, Sichuan UniversityDepartment of Biomass and Leather Engineering, Key Laboratory of Leather Chemistry and Engineering of Ministry of Education, Sichuan UniversitySinolight Inspection & Certification CO., LTD.Department of Biomass and Leather Engineering, Key Laboratory of Leather Chemistry and Engineering of Ministry of Education, Sichuan UniversityDepartment of Chemistry, The Chinese University of Hong KongDepartment of Biomass and Leather Engineering, Key Laboratory of Leather Chemistry and Engineering of Ministry of Education, Sichuan UniversityAbstract The blending of natural rubber (NR) with cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber (BR) has gained widespread attention due to its potential in enhancing the low temperature resistance and abrasion resistance of NR. However, the incompatibility between NR and BR as well as the non-uniform distribution of fillers often have an adverse impact on the mechanical properties. Herein, we propose a facile approach to modulate the multi-scale structures in NR/BR blends including polymer compatibility and filler distribution by introducing ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) with varying vinyl acetate (VA) content as multifunctional compatibilizers. The results indicate that the cure characteristics (i.e., processability) and mechanical properties of NR/BR blends can be readily tailored through adjustment of the VA content in EVA. When the VA content in EVA is increased to 18% (EVA-18), the NR/BR blends simultaneously exhibit favorable processability and mechanical properties. The microstructural analysis demonstrates that the introduction of EVA-18 not only enhances the compatibility between NR and BR with significantly reduced domain size, but also improves fillers dispersion in the rubber matrix. The presence of EVA-18 at concentrations up to 20 parts per hundred of rubber (phr) in NR/BR vulcanizates improves the mechanical properties by approximately 24% compared to un-compatibilized NR/BR vulcanizates, which is superior to the most present studies. This work will be beneficial for the development of NR/BR blends in the industry and provide a guideline for designing efficient compatibilizers for other immiscible rubber blends. Graphical abstracthttps://doi.org/10.1186/s42825-024-00181-7Rubber blendsEthylene vinyl acetateCompatibilityFiller dispersionMechanical properties
spellingShingle Jiyu Liang
Jianhui Wu
Chunhua Wang
Jun Sang
Keshuai Ren
To Ngai
Wei Lin
Ethylene vinyl acetate as a multifunctional compatibilizer for natural rubber/cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber blends with enhanced compatibility, filler dispersion and mechanical properties
Collagen and Leather
Rubber blends
Ethylene vinyl acetate
Compatibility
Filler dispersion
Mechanical properties
title Ethylene vinyl acetate as a multifunctional compatibilizer for natural rubber/cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber blends with enhanced compatibility, filler dispersion and mechanical properties
title_full Ethylene vinyl acetate as a multifunctional compatibilizer for natural rubber/cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber blends with enhanced compatibility, filler dispersion and mechanical properties
title_fullStr Ethylene vinyl acetate as a multifunctional compatibilizer for natural rubber/cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber blends with enhanced compatibility, filler dispersion and mechanical properties
title_full_unstemmed Ethylene vinyl acetate as a multifunctional compatibilizer for natural rubber/cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber blends with enhanced compatibility, filler dispersion and mechanical properties
title_short Ethylene vinyl acetate as a multifunctional compatibilizer for natural rubber/cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber blends with enhanced compatibility, filler dispersion and mechanical properties
title_sort ethylene vinyl acetate as a multifunctional compatibilizer for natural rubber cis 1 4 polybutadiene rubber blends with enhanced compatibility filler dispersion and mechanical properties
topic Rubber blends
Ethylene vinyl acetate
Compatibility
Filler dispersion
Mechanical properties
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s42825-024-00181-7
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