A Study on Processing and Physical Properties of Isoprene Rubber Involving Norbornene Dialkyl Ester

Abstract

In this study, we applied six different norbornene dialkyl esters as a plasticizer to an isoprene rubber (IR) and evaluated replaceability of DEHP which is an endocrine disruptor. IR test sheets were prepared by blending IR, norbornene dialkyl ester, vulcanizing agent, etc. and processing properties of the IR were evaluated by measuring Toque, scorch time, cure time and mooney viscosity. Mechanical properties of IR test sheet including hardness, tensile strength, 100% modulus and elongation were also measured and the physical properties of norbornene dialkyl ester applied as a plasticizer were compared to those using DEHN. Both the maximum and minimum toque for the norbornene dialkyl ester as a plasticizer were similar to those of using DEHP. In addition, the scorch and cure time of the former were slightly longer than those of the latter. The mooney viscosity for the case of DEHN was slightly lower than that of the latter. DEHN was also superior to DEHP in terms of processing. The hardness and thermal properties of all IR test sheets were measured to be similar to each other. The linear alkyl chain of norbornene compounds also exhibited good tensile characteristics. Keywords: norbornene dialkyl ester, plasticizers, isoprene Rubber (IR), processing, physical properties